Fearing West's wrath, Russia's rich look to stash wealth in Dubai | Reuters
Rich Russians are trying to shift some of their wealth from Europe to Dubai to shield assets from a tightening wave of Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, financial and legal sources said.
Dubai, the Gulf's freewheeling financial and business hub, has long been a magnet for the globe's ultra-rich and the United Arab Emirates' refusal to take sides between Western allies and Moscow has signalled to Russians that their money is safe there.
The UAE, which over the years has deepened its ties with Russia, has not matched sanctions imposed by Western nations and its central bank has so far not issued guidance regarding Western sanctions.
In many cases, wealthy Russians are seeking to shift funds to Dubai that are now in Switzerland or London - which have both sanctioned Russian individuals and organisations, a senior banker at a large Swiss private bank and a lawyer familiar with the matter said.
The lawyer, who is based in Dubai, said his firm had received inquiries from Russian entities on how quickly they could move "very significant funds" worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the Gulf Arab state.
"The UAE is a nice medium - a few hours away by flight and doesn't have a regulator completely in cahoots with Western regulators," an investment management professional said.
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