The 5th Annual Conference of the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority (ESCA) was held here in Dubai under the auspices of Engineer Sultan bin Saeed Al-Mansoori, Minister of Economy and SCA Board Chairman.
The Conference, which was held and under the theme: “The UAE Capital Markets – An Important Engine for Economic Growth”, attracted large attendance including experts and stakeholders in the banking and finance sector from inside the UAE and abroad, as well as experts from the securities and other vital economic sectors.
In his opening address, Abdullah Al Turifi, SCA Chief Executive Officer disclosed that ESCA has so far issued 42 regulations and resolutions and is currently working on a number of others which are expected to have positive impact on local securities markets and to contribute in boosting their activities. He said the regulations include regulations for Covered Bonds, Subscription Rights, Certificate of Deposit and Rules for Listing and Trading of Stocks of Private Companies or what is now known as “Second Market”.
The conference’s main speaker, Zarina Anwar, Former Chairman of Securities Commission Malaysia (SCM), said in her address that the UAE is one of the world’s top three issuers of Islamic Bond (Sukuk), adding that Dubai’s strategic position and the volume of its foreign trade placed it at a clear advantage in playing the leadership role in the area of advanced Islamic financial industry and in Islamic economy, in general.
Participants in the conference issued a number of recommendations, including the need to have clearly defined Sukuk regulatory rules within the capital market laws to vitalize these markets in the UAE, the need to have and apply the requirements of transparency and appropriate practices in the promotion of these products and to maintain the products’ Sharia-compliant features, and the need to have international cooperation agreement in assets management which they said, is very important for the industry and investors alike.
Al-Turifi has also said in his opening address that ESCA is also updating the Regulations for Bonds and Sukuk to cover all stages of their promotion, listing, trading and continuous requirements.
“On the level of the actual UAE market performance, statistics show significant appreciation in the performance of the Emirates Securities Market (ESM) this year. The ESM index posted a positive return of 10.56 per cent, while the total stock markets value of listed companies increased by 10.69 per cent. Furthermore, Net Foreign Investment value surged during the year by about AED900 million (about US$245 million) to prove the restoration of confidence of foreign investors in the local markets as the latter’s performance continues to improve,” he stated.
He pointed out that the year 2013 has witnessed the launching of the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, in making Dubai the Center of Islamic Economy. “Undoubtedly, this vision represents a smart reflection over the size of the industry as the world’s Sharia-compliant assets has now reached more than US$1.2 trillion, recording an annual growth rate of between 10 to 15 per cent, while the world’s Sukuk issuance reached US$43.5 billion at the end of 2012, representing a growth of 55 per cent against the previous year,” he said.
“The year 2012 witnessed fluctuations in the performance of foreign and Arab markets due to local and foreign factors, notably, sovereign debts crisis in Europe and the fear of “fiscal cliff” in the United States. Therefore, it is natural to have the second paper of this conference shed light on the performance of international capital markets, while the third paper highlights the developments on those secondary markets,” he added.
He acknowledged the pivotal role being played by investment banks and private banks in financial markets, by pumping liquidity and enhancing the markets with innovated financial products and establishing investment funds, notwithstanding their important roles in the growth of public offering subscription and securities custody, or in being a deposit center for securities.
