In Dubai, there are no assets.
That's not true.
I think that AUH signalling support for "selected assets" means legitimate govt infrastructure. Power, water etc. are legitimately "debt entities" (ie. it is usual for a govt to build a power station or a dam etc, funded by debt which is paid off long term by charging for electricity, water etc at an appropriate rate, and you are talking 10, 20 30+ year time frames). Building islands off the coast in an orgy of property speculation- i think these sorts of debts will be allowed to sink. The 'asset' doesn't cover the debt, and the activity itself is questionable on so many levels. The quandary is the intertwined nature of the govt and these enterprises. AUH have clearly signaled they are not going to cover everything. Hence, DW wont be able to borrow money anywhere for a long long time, so AUH will be the only available banker. It's going to be an interesting process. It's going to work out great for AUH. Im certain the sovereign fund managers will be eying various assets with interest.
A heady mix of bargain hunting and politics. Interesting times indeed.