According to a new report launched by HSBC in the UAE, Dubai’s capital markets are playing a pivotal role in advancing the Emirate’s ambition of becoming a global top 4 financial hub, with foreign investor participation now a defining feature of market activity. Unveiled at the Capital Market Summit 2025, hosted by Dubai Financial Market (DFM), ‘Strategy to Scale: Dubai’s Blueprint for Capital Market Growth’ report unpacks how the fast-moving internationalisation of its equity and debt capital markets combined with an expansive structural reform agenda are bringing Dubai closer to its goal of being recognised among the world’s top financial hubs, as outlined under D33 economic vision.
The deep analysis, conducted in partnership with Dubai Financial Market (DFM), is designed as a guide for new investors entering the market.
Mohamed Al Marzooqi, CEO, UAE, HSBC Bank Middle East said: “The sheer pace of change driving Dubai’s capital markets growth requires consistent and clear guidance for new investors, particularly as an accelerating influx of institutional capital from right across the investment spectrum seeks to navigate and harness the region’s dynamic opportunities. This guide will help new issuers and investors understand how Dubai’s openness to global capital and talent, its best-in-class infrastructure, and innovation are creating opportunities.”
The report explores the broadening and internationalisation of its equity capital markets, including potential enhancements to secondary market deal flow and liquidity, and the technological initiatives to strengthen the financing ecosystem:
- Between 2016 to 2024, the DFM provided investors with higher returns than the broader MSCI EM Index, achieving a 4.9 annualised US dollar return compared to 2.8% for the broader emerging markets index.
- Foreign investors accounted for half of all trading on the DFM at the end of 2024 and represented 85% of all investors that registered with DFM in 2024, reflecting Dubai’s international appeal.
- In 2024, the number of wealth and asset managers operating in Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) rose 16% year-on-year to 410, including 75 hedge funds of which 48 have more than US$1 billion under management, underscoring the changing shape of international investors.
- In 2024, Dubai accounted for 2.2% of global IPO volumes and hosted the world’s largest tech IPO of the year – for on-demand food, grocery and retail delivery platform, Talabat.
Samer Deghaili, Co-Head of Investment Banking, Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye, HSBC, said: “Dubai has opened up new pathways for issuers and investors across equity and debt capital markets. IPOs have been enjoying strong, often record-breaking demand, while its leading DCM hub status is providing an expanding universe of issuers with comprehensive options to raise funding in both foreign and the local currency.”
According to the report, Dubai’s debt capital markets are not only flourishing for its own credit universe, but for the world’s, underpinned by an expanding DCM universe of local and international issuers. With one of the most developed debt capital markets in the MENA region, Nasdaq Dubai’s growth as a global listing venue is encouraging more international issuers to bring deals to the Middle East, especially from Asia:
- Chinese corporations are increasingly turning to Dubai, with over $22 billion in debt on the exchange at the end of 2024.
- Dubai’s attractiveness as a listing destination is underscored by the fact that non-UAE fixed income issuers accounted for a full 45% of fixed income listings outstanding on the exchange in 2024.
- The UAE credit universe also had an active 2024, ranking as the third-largest dollar debt issuers from the emerging markets (excluding China).
- Last year saw the value of outstanding Sukuk listed across Nasdaq Dubai and DFM reach $97.8 billion.
- Sukuk issuance across all currencies rose 42% year-on-year to $4.71 billion in Q1 2025, accounting for 76% of all debt capital market activity on Nasdaq Dubai during the period.
The paper also explores the development of market infrastructure, including its digitalisation, upon which DFM and Nasdaq Dubai operate to cater to local, regional and international market participants, across retail and institutional segments.
Deghaili continued: “At HSBC, we pride ourselves on being a bridge between international capital and the burgeoning opportunities in the UAE. Our deep-rooted presence in the region, combined with our global network, enables us to connect investors with the UAE’s evolving investment landscape. As the region continues to open up and diversify, we’re committed to facilitating these connections and supporting our clients’ ambitions.”
HSBC is the leading international bank in the UAE and has led on 65% of total IPO deal value in the UAE’s financial markets between 2022 and 2025 year-to-date. During 2024, HSBC was a Joint Global Coordinator on two of DFM’s three IPOs and broke new ground for the market with the inclusion of a stabilisation mechanism as part of Parkin’s privatisation.
HSBC is the leading DCM arranger for Dubai issuers right across the sector and ratings spectrum and is the only international bank to have led all debt capital market transactions from the Federal Government of the UAE.
As part of its efforts to support structural innovation in the capital markets, in 2024 HSBC was Joint Lead Manager for the world’s first Sustainability-linked Loan Financing Bond to fully adhere to the new International Capital Market Association (ICMA) and Loan Market Association (LMA) framework, for Emirates NBD Bank.
To read the report, please click here.
