The meetings discussmechanisms for the GCC financial market integration and the standardized rules and principles needed.
The meetings approved the implementation of mutual fund passporting regime across the GCC states.
SCA presents its experience in financial inclusion.
Mandated by H.E. Eng. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Minister of Economy and Chairman of the Board of the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), a SCA delegation, led by H.E. Dr. Obaid Al Zaabi, SCA’s CEO, participated in the eighth meeting of the Ministerial Committee of Heads of GCC Financial Market Regulatory Authorities held in Muscat. The delegation also took part in the ninth meeting of Heads of GCC Financial Market Authorities (or their equivalents) and the second joint meeting of the Committee of Heads of GCC Financial Market Authorities (or their equivalents) and Exchanges.
The eighth meeting of the Ministerial Committee of Heads of GCC Financial Market Regulatory Authorities was presided over by H.E. Yahya Al Jabri, Chairman of the Capital Market Authority (CMA) in Oman, and attended by representatives from all member states as well as by H.E. Khalifa bin Saeed Al Abri, Assistant Secretary General for Development and Economic Affairs at the GCC Secretariat. At the meeting, a joint training e-portal, called “The GCC Financial Market Knowledge Gate”, was inaugurated in an effort to achieve mutual benefit from the training programs offered by member states.
The committee examined mechanisms for the GCC financial market integration and the standardized rules and principles required. It resolved that such rules and principles should be taken into consideration when issuing and offering mutual fund units.
The committee also agreed to the start of the implementation of mutual fund passporting regime and the associated services. It assigned the Working Group on the GCC Financial Market Integration with the implementation of the regime according to a defined and clear timetable, implementation plan, and legal framework. The committee decided to further assign the Working Group on the GCC Financial Market Integration with the development of a roadmap for the initiatives that have been already approved in the working group’s third meeting. The roadmap aims to deepen coordination with the GCC financial market authorities
In a related context, SCA took part in the ninth meeting of Heads of GCC Financial Market Authorities, which discussed key developments in the GCC financial markets and explored matters of common interest,including the passporting initiative and the ideal implementation method. This was done in line with a report that SCA presented to the GCC Secretariat and the member states concerning its passporting experience with the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and the proposals made by the Working Group on the GCC Financial Market Integration in relation to the initial implementation of the passporting regime on mutual funds across the GCC states in an attempt to achieve the desired integration.
The meeting discussed unified opening for the GCC securities markets and viewed SCA’s opinion that there is no need for unifiedmarket hours in the present time.
It was agreed that SCA would present a working paper on financial inclusion to the Committee of Heads of Financial Market Authorities in its upcoming meeting. It was also agreed to list items on the agenda of the second joint meeting of the Committee of Heads of GCC Financial Market Authorities and Exchanges, including mechanisms for GCC financial market central clearing, dual listing, and the Know Your Client (KYC) rule. The meeting adopted a proposal made by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) in Kuwait in relation to the formation of working groups for the legal sectors at the GCC financial market regulatory authorities.
The second joint meeting of the Committee of Heads of GCC Financial Market Authorities and Exchanges,held in the presence of representatives from the GCC Secretariat, approvedthe agenda and agreed with the UAE view that there is no need for unified market opening times in the present time. It highlighted the importance of developing a mechanism for central clearing across theGCC financial markets. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) shared their experience in creating clearing companies for financial markets and the clearing project they are working on.
Participants in the meeting also explored ways to facilitate the exchange of information between the GCC financial markets in accordance with the KYC rule.