The Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with its Spanish counterpart to boost cooperation between the two regulators in the area of securities industry. The agreement came to crown the negotiations efforts led by H.E. Sultan bin Saeed Al-Mansoori, Minister of Economy and SCA Board Chairman, during the first UAE-Spain Joint Committee meeting, which was held in the Spanish capital, Madrid.
H.E. Abdullah Al-Turifi, SCA Chief Executive Officer, signed the MoU for his side, while Julio Segura Sanchez, Chairman of the Spanish Securities Market Commission (CNMV), also signed for his outfit in a ceremony which was attended by the UAE Economy Minister, H.E. Dr. Hessa Abdullah Al-Otaiba, UAE Ambassador in Spain, Engineer Mohammed bin Abdul Aziz Al-Shehhi, Director General of the Ministry of Economy and other members of the UAE delegation participating in the joint committee meeting.
According to the MoU, the SCA and the CNMV shall exchange training and technical programs following consultations between them to determine the areas of these training and technical assistance to support development of securities markets of the two countries. It also seeks to boost mutual assistance and sharing of experience.
In a statement after the signing of the agreement, Al-Turifi said the MoU aimed at providing better protection for investors and ensuring competence of securities markets through a framework that would pave the way for cooperation and mutual understanding between the two sides, leading to increased flow of investment into the two countries, through joint listing of securities on their respective markets. He added that the implementation of the MoU will boost disclosure and transparency as the major aim is to bring an end to the risk involved in securities market related transactions.
He pointed out that the MoU, among other things, also seeks to promote the exchange of technical support between the two sides, especially in the area of investment management, financial disclosures and types of information that can be disclosed to investors by public joint stock companies, listing of companies and development of Islamic finance tools, as well as regulating securities markets and future contracts. He said this is to be done through a number of channels, including holding of forums in both the UAE and Spain, exchange of familiarization visits and conferences.
The MoU also entails enforcement of transactions and deals related laws, rules and regulations, as well as those related to administration and consultation in the area of securities and future contracts, investment options and activities, supervision and monitoring of stock markets. It also calls for ensuring the implementation of rules and regulations by all parties involved, ensuring the competence of licensed personnel and working to improve their professional standards.
The two sides shall also cooperate in the areas of acquisition and merger operations, as well as in everything connected to laws and regulations related to securities markets, future contracts and other stock market products and optional bourses that operate within the regulations of the two regulators, in addition to exposing all malpractices.
The signing of the MoU falls within the SCA's general strategy which has witnessed so far the signing of 25 similar MoUs with the SCA's counterparts in various countries of the world.
About CNMV
The Spanish Securities Market Commission (CNMV) is an independent administrative body established by virtue of Securities Market Law No. (24) of 1998, which restructured this segment of the Spanish financial system. The CNMV supervises and regulates the Spanish capital market and oversees all transactions on the Spanish securities market. It is also striving to entrench transparency on the market by encouraging disclosure of any information that would serve this purpose. The CNMV also works to promote cooperation with its counterparts from other countries of the world, through the sharing of information and the entering into bilateral and multi-lateral agreements.