City Dubai Financial News

As the final weeks of 2023 approach, it’s fair to say that one of the most dominant trends and drivers of crypto companies’ strategies over the past months can be summed up in a single word: licenses. 

By Libby George, Karin Strohecker and Simon Jessop

Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team all set to face the Pat Cummins-led Australia on 19 November at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi stadium for the high-adrenaline-filled ICC Men's World Cup final, hotel room tariff in Gujarat's Ahmedabad and airfares to the city have skyrocketed. According to a report by news agency PTI, the hotel room tariffs for the night of the match have gone up as high as ₹2 lakh in top five-star hotels in the city, while other hotels have also increased their rates by five to seven times.

Mark Mobius, whose name has been synonymous with investing in developing countries for a third of a century, isn’t planning to slow down even as he steps back from the firm that bears his name. The 87-year-old money manager said he’s busier than ever as he looks to set up a new venture in Dubai. The firm will be “involved in investment,” he said, declining to provide specifics because he said it’s still in the negotiating stage.

California, Texas, and several other U.S. states have cracked down on GS Partners, accusing the company of defrauding cryptocurrency investors through various fraudulent schemes. Regulators say GS Partners violated securities laws by making false claims and omitting key details when selling unregistered crypto assets to retail investors.

Disgraced Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon’s appeal in his document forgery case has been rejected by a High Court in Montenegro.

Dubai's record property prices are expected to start easing by the end of next year and slightly reverse by 5% to 10% in the next 12 to 18 months, according to S&P Global Ratings. «We do think the risk of a cyclical slowdown and potentially a mild reversal are increasing over the next 12 to 18 months,» Tatjana Lescova, S&P's associate director of corporate ratings, said at an event on Wednesday. «All the global economic uncertainty could affect the demand in Dubai.» Although prices are expected to increase a further 15% to 18% this year and then by another 5% to 7% next year when the market gradually slows down, according to S&P. Dubai's property market recently broke a decade-long record for home sales, while rental rates have jumped to unprecedented levels.

Dubai’s dedicated crypto regulator, the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA), is switching leaders as it prepares for the next phase of its “ramp up to full-scale market operations” in 2023. 

The head of Dubai’s cryptocurrency regulator, Henson Orser has left the role to pursue new interests amid looming domestic fines on digital asset companies for a breach of rules.

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By Tim Hepher, Alexander Cornwell and Pesha Magid

NEW DELHI : Foreign airlines have always seen India as a market that feeds their hubs, but that seems to be changing with key foreign carriers from Asia Pacific seeing India becoming an aviation hub, which can be used to connect Africa and the Middle East from their part of the world. Senior executives from Japan Airlines and Thai Airways said they see the potential of India becoming a hub but it may take some time for this to become a reality.

By David Stanway and Valerie Volcovici

heat in the coming decades, an international team of experts said Wednesday, warning that without action on climate change the «health of humanity is at grave risk». Lethal heat was just one of the many ways the world's still-increasing use of fossil fuels threatens human health, according to The Lancet Countdown, a major annual assessment carried out by leading researchers and institutions. More common droughts will put millions at risk of starving, mosquitoes spreading farther than ever before will take infectious diseases with them, and health systems will struggle to cope with the burden, the researchers warned. The dire assessment comes during what is expected to be the hottest year in human history — just last week, Europe's climate monitor declared that last month was the warmest October on record. It also comes ahead of the COP28 climate talks in Dubai later this month, which will for the first time host a «health day» on December 3 as experts try to shine a light on global warming's impact on health. Despite growing calls for global action, energy-related carbon emissions hit new highs last year, the Lancet Countdown report said, singling out still-massive government subsidies and private bank investments into planet-heating fossil fuels. Last year people worldwide were exposed to an average of 86 days of life-threatening temperatures, according to the Lancet Countdown study.

Officials from Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban welcomed the resumption of FlyDubai flights to Kabul international airport

Navin Gupta, the Managing Director of South Asia, Middle East, and North Africa at the US blockchain and payments firm Ripple, has reiterated the necessity of adopting an activity-based approach to crypto regulation.

₹450 crore ($57 million) with estimates indicating a staggering ₹5000 crore diverted by the entity in ‘hawala transactions’. The app, now blocked by the ministry of electronics and information technology (Meity), was allegedly overseen by individuals based in Dubai -- Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal. Mint delves into the events leading to the scam.

The US and China, the world’s biggest polluters, vowed to step up joint action to tackle climate change in a revival of collaboration that’s likely to offer crucial momentum for UN talks in Dubai opening later this month.

The US will lead a push at the COP28 climate summit to triple the amount of installed nuclear power capacity globally by 2050, marking a major turnaround for the controversial technology at the climate negotiations.

Hong Kong-founded institutional cryptocurrency asset custodian Hex Trust has been given the green light to offer virtual asset custodial services to institutional clients and investors in Dubai.

Institutional-grade crypto custodian Hex Trust has successfully obtained a full operating license from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), the firm announced today.