{"id":106845,"date":"2025-08-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/what-sets-difc-and-adgm-apart-amid-increased-regional-financial-hub-competition\/"},"modified":"2025-08-25T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T00:00:00","slug":"what-sets-difc-and-adgm-apart-amid-increased-regional-financial-hub-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/08\/25\/what-sets-difc-and-adgm-apart-amid-increased-regional-financial-hub-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"What sets DIFC and ADGM apart amid increased regional financial hub competition"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest in <\/strong>Financial Times<\/a><\/strong>\u2019 series looking at rival Middle East financial hubs puts Abu <\/strong>Dhabi \u2014 or the \u201ccapital of capital\u201d \u2014 in the spotlight<\/strong>. <\/strong>The emirate, which holds some USD 1.7 tn<\/a> in sovereign wealth assets, has sharpened its focus on attracting asset managers, private equity, and hedge funds, with the likes of PGIM<\/a>, Nuveen<\/a>, General Atlantic<\/a>, Lone Star<\/a>, and hedge fund Marshall Wace<\/a> all joining recently. The total firm count rose to 2.8k operational entities by March, up a third from end-2024.. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s the same vibe in Abu Dhabi as there was in Hong Kong about 20 years ago,\u201d<\/strong> one hedge fund employee told the FT, adding, \u201cthere\u2019s a real sense of being on the ground floor of where the action is.\u201d Abu Dhabi\u2019s draw includes sovereign wealth firepower, zero taxes, its adoption of the English law, and crypto trading rules \u2014 though challenges remain, including limited transparency and an economy dominated by state entities and royal-linked firms.<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/strong>FT also recently looked at the Dubai International Finance Center<\/a><\/strong> (DIFC), which despite being around for decades longer, is now facing increased competition and a surge in cost pressures and traffic that has pushed some towards rivals like Abu Dhabi and Riyadh. One source said the DIFC is a \u201cnice place to have dinner\u201d while Abu Dhabi is better for dealmaking. <\/p>\n

Still, this has not yet been reflected in the numbers. <\/strong>The hub has boomed since the pandemic, with company registrations more than doubling in four and a half years to 7.7k and headcount rising to nearly 48k as a rapid reopening during Covid-19 drew bankers in. The first half of 2025 was its strongest yet for new registrations. The emirate\u2019s push into new sectors such as cryptocurrency \u2014 while carrying some risk \u2014 and its lifestyle lures have also helped increase its attraction for bankers. <\/p>\n

The influx has strained infrastructure<\/strong>, with surging property prices and traffic congestion around the DIFC. Authorities plan to add 1.6 mn sq ft<\/a> of office space by 2027 to ease the pressure.<\/p>\n

One thing sets both the DIFC and ADGM apart, and that\u2019s regulatory openness.<\/strong> Both emirates\u2019 financial hubs benefit from an open approach from regulators, who sources said are \u201caccessible, engaged, and ensuring that competitiveness is a key part of their mandate.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ADGM-registered money managers rose 41% y-o-y to 144 in 1Q 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":106846,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_primary_brand":0,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1551],"tags":[1360,489,87,794,7,41],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"class_list":["post-106845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uae-in-the-news","tag-abu-dhabi","tag-adgm","tag-dubai","tag-dubai-international-financial-center","tag-enterpriseam-uae","tag-uae-in-the-news","wpautop","entry"],"acf":{"mongo_id":"05833491-9849-429a-8b37-30aa2b9f8ba2","order":"11","is_powered_by":false,"story_type":"1","photo_url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/2025\/8\/1455.jpg","photo_position":"above","homepage_title":"","full_issue_title":"What sets DIFC and ADGM apart amid increased regional financial hub competition","related_issue":[106826],"teaser":"ADGM-registered money managers rose 41% y-o-y to 144 in 1Q 2025","voice_url":"https:\/\/s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/ent.news\/audio\/2025\/8\/.1ec13651-ab98-4bde-aea5-b97802e19838.mp3"},"yoast_head":"\nWhat sets DIFC and ADGM apart amid increased regional financial hub competition - 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