Short selling on UAE regulator's agenda
26 November 2011 Dubai
Image: Shutterstock
Short selling in UAE markets may be approved as early as the second half of 2012, said financial regulator, the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) at a SunGard Dubai City Day event held on 23 November.
Dr Mounther Barakat, senior adviser for research and studies at the SCA and member of the committee writing regulations, said that regulators have come a long way, with three-quarters of the work completed, however, the UAE has a lengthy regulatory process and regulations are unlikely to be out or implemented before the end of the first half of next year.
Draft regulations for market making, securities lending, short selling and liquidity provision were released in November, with a comment period extended until the end of the month. The move underpins the region’s bid for MSCI emerging market status.
“We have huge international interest in our regulations, we get hundreds of pages of comments and will require a couple of months to look at them…we have to do training for the markets and brokers and raise awareness…so it will take time,” Dr Barakat said.
Also speaking as part of the panel discussing the struggle exchanges are facing in raising liquidity, Olivier Gueris, COO of Qatar Exchange, described the "long wish list" sitting with regulators.
"Securities lending and borrowing...it is tested, it is working, we just need regulator approval, same thing with liquidity provision, market making schemes...these are concepts that the West is very familiar with but here they [can be] outlandish concepts for a regulator...it is a lengthy work and things happen at their pace here in the Middle East," Gueris noted.
Dr Mounther Barakat, senior adviser for research and studies at the SCA and member of the committee writing regulations, said that regulators have come a long way, with three-quarters of the work completed, however, the UAE has a lengthy regulatory process and regulations are unlikely to be out or implemented before the end of the first half of next year.
Draft regulations for market making, securities lending, short selling and liquidity provision were released in November, with a comment period extended until the end of the month. The move underpins the region’s bid for MSCI emerging market status.
“We have huge international interest in our regulations, we get hundreds of pages of comments and will require a couple of months to look at them…we have to do training for the markets and brokers and raise awareness…so it will take time,” Dr Barakat said.
Also speaking as part of the panel discussing the struggle exchanges are facing in raising liquidity, Olivier Gueris, COO of Qatar Exchange, described the "long wish list" sitting with regulators.
"Securities lending and borrowing...it is tested, it is working, we just need regulator approval, same thing with liquidity provision, market making schemes...these are concepts that the West is very familiar with but here they [can be] outlandish concepts for a regulator...it is a lengthy work and things happen at their pace here in the Middle East," Gueris noted.
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