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Abu Dhabi bourse seen starting soon

ABU DHABI: The launch of the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange is expected to take place in the first half of this year, newspapers in the United Arab Emirates reported on Sunday.

"The stock exchange will be ready by the end of April," Mohammed Omar Abdullah, a member of the stock exchange committee, was quoted by Gulf News and other dailies as saying.

Gulf News said the market would be open for business by May. Initially only UAE citizens would be allowed to trade, although expatriates might be be allowed to participate in the future, the daily added.

A law to form a stock exchange regulatory body was issued by the Economy Ministry earlier in February, the final hurdle to allowing the trading floors to be set up. The UAE has been working on plans for a formal bourse for several years.

Separate trading floors are expected to be set up in Abu Dhabi, the UAE's capital, and Dubai, the Gulf Arab state's commercial centre.

Brokers have said the physical set-up for the Dubai floor and trading systems have been ready for some months. Analysts have said the Dubai floor could start up in the next two months.

UAE stocks are currently traded through a handful of brokerages and banks licensed by the central bank, but there is no centralised exchange or index. Expatriates are not allowed to invest directly in UAE shares. The Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange (ADSE) would initially be housed at temporary site until a new building is built, the reports said.

"The plan for ADSE is ready to execute. The rules and regulations governing the ADSE are currently being reviewed and will soon be ratified," Abdullah said, adding that all UAE joint stock companies would be listed in the capital's bourse.

Listed firms would have to provide financial statements regularly. "This will ensure transparency of information concerning the performance of listed companies, as well as disclosure of data within the market," he added.-Reuters