Egypt's Stock Exchanges to improve procedures
A prime focus was accorded to the ministerial meeting held late this week by Prime Minister Atef Ebeid on means of enhancing the performance of Egypt's Stock Exchange (ESE) with a view to attract Arab and foreign investments and increase the flow of capital funds.
Within this context, a host of regulatory measures will be adopted to abolish the upward and downward 5 percent ceiling margin of the daily traded shares, especially for the blue-chip stocks, a matter which is estimated to invigorate circulation and increase transactions in the ESE, Chairman of the Capital Market Authority (CMA), Abdel Hamid Ibrahim said.
The measures also include a new system for selling the shares whereby 50 percent of the sold stocks' total value would be paid in cash and the rest would be paid in installments according to the set rules between the dealers and the brokerage companies, Ibrahim noted.
Moreover, new regulations will be soon declared for the membership of the brokerage companies in the bourse mainly capitalizing on ensuring transparency and disclosure for the best interest of dealers.
On the same note, the ESE Board of Directors will hold a meeting shortly to enforce these decisions which are mainly designed to upgrade performance and activate dealings.
Meanwhile, Chairman of Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchanges Sameh El-Torgoman declared during a recent meeting with the Egyptian Businessmen Association that a new bourse arbitration system will be adopted in addition to a fund to be established for covering risk and fraud cases in the bourse.
The new system will come into force in August with the sole aim of serving the investors' interests and safeguarding their rights.
In a separate note, according to the latest report by the Investment and Stock Exchange Department at the Ministry of Foreign Trade, Egypt ranked second among emerging markets in terms of profits from share transactions after Russia and the Czech Republic which came in first and third places respectively.
The report included a survey of the 50 most active companies registered on the ESE.