Thursday 10 February 2011

FT Tilt - How to dial up a diplomatic spat: own their stock exchange(Registration)

The UAE and Canada have been in a steadily escalating diplomatic row over the last year, and the merger of the London and Toronto stock exchanges will make that relationship all the more interesting, with the Dubai government the largest single shareholder of the LSE.

Relations between the UAE and Canada were tested when the UAE announced last year it would ban BlackBerry, citing national security concerns related to the phone's encryption system, which is beyond the reach of UAE authorities. But the row truly began when Canada announced it would not give additional landing rights to UAE airlines, in a move designed to protect Air Canada from competition with Emirates and Etihad.

The UAE responded furiously, ordering the Canadians to vacate a military base in the UAE that was used as a staging point for Canadian forces heading to Afghanistan, and at one point denying landing permission for a plane carrying the Canadian defence minister.

No comments:

Post a Comment