Business Bureau, Gulf Today

The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and Nasdaq Dubai on Monday hosted a bell ringing ceremony with the participation of the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), on the occasion the World Investor Week 2020, an initiative of the International organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), aiming to promote investors awareness and protection of their rights.

Senior officials present during the market-opening bell ringing ceremony included; Dr Obaid Al Zaabi, CEO of the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), Hassan Al Serkal, CEO of DFM and Hamed Ali, CEO of Nasdaq Dubai and Deputy CEO of DFM, as well as senior representatives from capital markets’ related institutions.

The World Investor Week includes similar bell-ringing activities in exchanges around the world.

As part of their active participation in this initiative, the two exchanges will organise two webinars this Tuesday and Wednesday for investors and brokers about the equity futures platform scheduled for launch this month.

Hassan Al Serkal, CEO of DFM said: “The DFM is committed to collaborate with various institutions in the UAE and beyond to enhance investors’ awareness and promote their financial literacy.”

“The DFM continuously organises investor educational workshops about market services and investment opportunities. It also connects with investors through its diversified smart channels, which enabled us to continue business as usual despite the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, in a clear testament on DFM’s excellence in this field as well as the success of our awareness campaigns and the high level of awareness amongst market participants.”

Hamed Ali, CEO of Nasdaq Dubai and Deputy CEO of DFM said: “Over the past years, Nasdaq Dubai has been actively promoting participants’ awareness by implementing numerous initiatives through its academy and in cooperation with business partners including brokerage firms, investment banks, custodians, etc.”

“We are fully supporting efforts aiming at deepening investors’ knowledge and educating them about key business developments, products and services. Within this context, we are organising training programmes for various market participants about capital markets, trading mechanisms, financial products as well as regulatory and legal matters.”

It is noteworthy that the efforts of DFM and Nasdaq Dubai aren’t solely targeting market participants, as both exchanges are actively educating younger generations of school and university students through stock games and educational trading floors at UAE universities.  Dubai Financial Market (DFM) was established as a public institution with its own independent corporate body.

DFM operates as a secondary market for the trading of securities issued by public shareholding companies, bonds issued by the Federal Government or any of the local Governments and public institutions in the country, units of investment funds and any other financial instruments, local or foreign, which are accepted by the market.  The DFM commenced operations on March 26, 2000 and became the first Islamic Shari’a-compliant exchange globally since 2007.

Following its initial public offering in November 2006, when DFM offered 1.6 billion shares, representing 20 per cent of its paid-up capital of Dhs8 billion, DFM became a public joint stock company and its shares were listed on March 7, 2007 with the trading symbol (DFM).

Following the IPO, the Government of Dubai retained the remaining 80 per cent of DFM Company through Borse Dubai Limited.