BOURSE WATCH: Saudi Arabia has followed a cautious and gradual opening of its capital market to the direct presence of foreign investors. (Getty Images)

The current market crisis will not precipitate consolidation among stock exchanges in the Gulf Arab region, the CEOs of the Saudi and Abu Dhabi bourses said on Wednesday.

The stock exchanges are moving towards a more harmonised regulatory regime, which will facilitate investors' access to the region, said Abdullah Al Suweilmi, CEO of the Saudi Arabia's Tadawul, the largest Arab bourse, and Tom Healy, CEO of Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange.

"There is an opportunity there to create a common capital market for the gulf region but that doesn't mean consolidating," Healy told a press conferences on the sidelines of the GCC Investor Conference 2009 in London.

"They are all owned by governments and they're unlikely to want to give up the stock exchange and consolidate with another," he said.

Saudi Arabia has followed a cautious and gradual opening of its capital market to the direct presence of foreign investors.

Last year the regulator Capital Markets Authority, allowed foreigners to buy shares listed on the Arab bourse by entering into swap agreements with licensed Saudi intermediaries.

Earlier, the bourse of the world's top oil exporter was largely closed to foreign capital, giving foreigners access to stocks only through mutual funds.

Healy said stock exchanges in the Gulf should achieve a degree of harmonised standardisation.

"A common minimum capital adequacy, standard rules; the things that have become very complex in Europe. I think for about 20 percent of the change you could get about 89 percent of bang for your buck," he said.

Suweilmi said: "For the investors themselves that's what matters, that they are able to access these markets seamlessly. They have transparent rules and preferably common rules across these markets.

"I don't think it really matters if we have one, two or five or ten exchanges," he said.

Tadawul, he said, has had five IPOs this year "I think we will have a few more IPOs by the end of the year. I am optimistic," he told Reuters TV service, Insider. He declined to comment on the stock exchange's floatation time frame. (Reuters)

Comments (0)

Post a comment

All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason.Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Arabian Business would like to point out that only comments relevant to the story will be published. Any containing personal insults or inappropriate language will not be approved.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Enter the words above *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.