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Abu Dhabi's bourse plans to enforce new corporate governance and transparency rules for listed firms, as the emirate seeks to attract international investors to its booming economy, an official said on Wednesday.
"The Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority has formulated corporate governance rules and a code and we will soon ensure that listed companies adhere to them," said Khalil Ahmad Fulathi, vice chairman of the Abu Dhabi Securities Market.
"We are committed to best practices and international standards that are essential for the market to be an efficient facilitator of the growing, investment-led, economy of Abu Dhabi," he told an investment conference.
The Abu Dhabi government's five-year spending plan is estimated to be around $175 billion with initiatives launched to diversify the economy.
"We are positioning Abu Dhabi as the preferred destination for local and global direct investments that will enable the private sector to be the catalyst of economic development," Fulathi said.
With 60 listed companies, the Abu Dhabi bourse's market capitalisation reached $112.7 billion in late October, up 39% from the end of 2006, he said. The index is up more than 40% this year, making it the Gulf's second-best performer after Oman's stock market.
