Henyep Investment expands Dubai business with the aim to become the bridge between the Middle East and Mainland China

The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is gradually becoming the focus of capital markets due to high oil prices and the liquidity created by international oil-money. Henyep Investment, a well established Hong Kong based firm, has been granted a license by the DIFC, becoming the one of the earliest financial companies from Hong Kong to enter into the fast developing region. In his recent interview with the HKEC, Louis Chiu, Henyep's Chairman, said the company will be marketing forex and Contract for Differences products in the region as well as aiming to become the bridge for investors between China and the Middle East.

The DIFC has created spread attention amongst governments and financial circles in Asia. Frederick Ma, Secretary for Financial Services and The Treasury of the Hong Kong SAR, recently led a delegation of Hong Kong businessmen to visit Dubai. Officials from Taiwan visited the UAE last year and their itinerary included meetings with the DIFC and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is the sixth largest foreign investor in Taiwan with their total investment in the Taiwan stock market exceeding two billion dollars. The Authority's main fund originates mostly from government oil assets and income, with over US$500 billion under management.

The DIFC started issuing licenses in 2004 and has issued over thirty international financial conglomerates licenses, including Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse. Last month, Henyep Investment (UAE) Limited was also granted a license by the DIFC. Henyep Investment (UAE) Limited is the wholly owned subsidiary of the Henyep Development Holdings Company Limited in Hong Kong. The Group received its approval on the license through its UK FSA regulated subsidiary.

Louis Chiu indicated that Henyep has been serving the financial industry for over 30 years and maintains over 100 employees in the Middle East region. He attributed the similarities amongst the regulatory frameworks of Dubai, London and Hong Kong as the main attraction for their Group to setup their new office in Dubai. The freedom of exchange control was another factor. Most importantly, Henyep will be allowed to have complete ownership of the local entity.

With the booming local economy, Henyep plans to expand its forex and Contract for Differences activities as well as look to increase its scope to offer new investment products in the near future.

Mr. Chiu further pointed out that Henyep Group has developed an extensive network of business relationship with local clients in the region. With these as a foundation, the Group will further develop its role to act as a bridge between both Chinese and Middle Eastern investors.

Mr. Chiu noted that Dubai is the hub of investment for neighboring countries. Local investors are very interested to investing into China. They are optimistic on the outlook of the China markets, but posses only limited knowledge of the latter. At the same time, Chinese investors are also closely linked to the Middle East in various ways. The Henyep Group looks forward to bring in Middle East capital and investors into China, and possibly help Chinese industries to identify business partners in the UAE.