The Dubai International Financial Exchange will host a seminar at the Muscat Securities Market on 30 May to explain the opportunities the region’s first international stock exchange can provide brokers and investors in Oman.
Commenting on the upcoming event, Nasser Alshaali, Chief Operating Officer of the DIFX, said: “Financial institutions in Oman stand to benefit from the high volumes of trading that the DIFX expects to attract as it develops its market. Omani investors may also find opportunities on the exchange, as more companies across the DIFX region choose to list on it.”
Mr Alshaali and Jean-Paul Eulaers, the DIFX Head of Membership, will explain the structure of the DIFX and how to connect to its market to an audience of senior Omani brokers and investors at the event.
The DIFX has successfully attracted a range of equity and bond products since it opened in September last year. It expects many further listings, including substantial initial public offerings, by the end of this year.
The exchange currently has 13 Members, including prominent regional and international financial institutions, and expects to welcome many more in coming months.
Through its international focus, the DIFX complements other stock markets in its region.
About DIFX
The DIFX is the region’s first international financial exchange for equities, bonds, Islamic products, funds, index products and (subject to regulatory approval) derivatives. The target areas of the DIFX for seeking issuers include the Middle East and North Africa, as well as South Africa, Turkey and the Indian sub-continent.
The regulator of the DIFX is the Dubai Financial Services Authority. The DIFX is located in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and its owner is the DIFC Authority. www.difx.ae
Listings
Fortune Management Inc, a Swiss-based private equity firm, announced on May 24th 2006 that it will list shares in a secondary listing on the DIFX on June 1st.
Listings on the DIFX so far this year, in chronological order:
• January 18th - National Bank of Dubai - US $750m Floating Rate Note; the first DIFX listing by a UAE issuer and the first DIFX debt security.
• January 26th - Dubai Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCFC) – US $3.5 billion Sukuk; the world’s largest.
• February 6th - Mashreqbank - US$ 750m Euro Medium Term Note programme plus two series of Floating Rate Notes issued under it.
• March 1st - Kingdom Hotel Investments – Ordinary shares following an IPO that raised US$ 397m; the first DIFX primary listing of ordinary shares and the first listing anywhere of a company controlled by Prince Al Waleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia.
• March 23rd - Man Industries – US$ 35m Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs); the first DIFX listing by an Indian company.
• April 26th - Hikma Pharmaceuticals – GDRs eligible for listing on the DIFX on demand.
• May 18th - Rana Sugars – $18 million GDR; second Indian company to list on DIFX
These follow the listing last year of Global Depositary Shares issued by Investcom, the international mobile phone company, and of nine Deutsche Bank index certificates.
