No plans to raise foreign ownership limits in UAE

The UAE economy minister yesterday said there are no plans to raise foreign ownership limits for listed companies in the UAE, a stance that could jeopardise a potential upgrade to emerging market status by index compiler MSCI. "No, not yet," Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri said, when asked if there were plans to allow foreign investors a greater share of stocks. "We need to see what serves the country and the economy," Al Mansouri said, adding that it may be studied in the future. He didn't specify a timeline. MSCI will announce the results of its 2011 annual market classification review on Tuesday. Many analysts have said the UAE needs to relax its current foreign ownership rules to give it a better of chance of clinching the MSCI upgrade. From / Gulf News