Dubai consolidation gains mixed reviews

In what is being portrayed as a landmark consolidation, stocks listed on Nasdaq Dubai are now being traded on the same system as the local Dubai Financial Market.

As of this week, clearing, settlement and custody are based on the DFM system although the two exchanges retain separate identities.

The exchange authorities are describing the new arrangements as an outsourcing rather than a merger. But professionals say that, either way, the pairing is not so far attracting the retail money that had been hoped for.