Dubai to get first realty exchange in Middle East

Dubai is set to house the regional branch of the world's first specialised real estate exchange operated by the Irex Group of Canada.

Irex Group yesterday announced plans to launch its first group of exchanges, Irex Europe/Mena and Irex Canada in 2012.

The company is seeking authorisation to set up an operating branch in Dubai to service issuers and manage listings for the Middle East and North Africa region. It will also seek permission from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to operate an Irex exchange in London.

The company will create and operate a regulated securities marketplace for the listing and trading of real estate assets in key financial centres around the world.

The exchange will list securities of real estate projects that are approved and licenced by governmental authorities.

Irex Europe/Mena will be headquartered in London, and subsequent branch offices will be established in various EU member states and the Mena region. Irex Canada will be headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia.

"The development of a real estate exchange took 10 years from the company and now we are in the process of establishing this exchange on the ground," said Safar Al Harthi, Executive Chairman of the Irex Group. "Dubai is the preferred location for the regional branch of the real estate exchange due to its infrastructure and regulatory framework that will help launch the exchange," he said. "There is no final decision yet because we received invitations from three GCC states to host the regional exchange. Dubai was the first to invite us and is the preferred location. Dubai is our first priority."

The real estate exchange will be dedicated for trading in asset-backed securities of the real estate sector only and this will be unique around the world," he said.

The exchange will create a wide variety of financial instruments to securities real estate assets such as real property investment units (RPI Units), real estate investment trusts (Reits), common/preferred shares, trust structures and debt securities.

"We introduced rules and regulations to guarantee transparency and confidence in the exchange. We will list securities that are licenced by concerned authorities. Developers can access liquidity through securitising their projects in the exchange. They can overcome the current shortage of liquidity due to the financial crisis and this will help them continue their operations," he added.

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