Bahrain Bourse receives approval to establish Bahrain Clear

28/02/2017 16:41 AST

The second board meeting of the year approved the Listing Rules in order to enhance the role of Bahrain Bourse (BHB) as a Self-Regulatory organisation and issued a resolution to establish Bahrain Clear Company.

The Board of Directors of Bahrain Bourse (BHB) held its second meeting for the year 2017 on Wednesday, 22nd February 2017 chaired by Mr. Abdulkareem Ahmed Bucheeri, Chairman of the Bourse. The meeting discussed the topics including the latest developments at Bahrain Bourse, where the strategic review of BHB’s operational plan for 2016 was presented by Shaikh Khalifa bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa, Chief Executive Officer of the Bourse.

The presentation outlined the major achievements of Bahrain Bourse during 2016 such as the launch of the T-Bills market, where 42 T-Bill issues with a total value of BD2.82 billion were listed. The REITs market was also created with the listing of Eskan Bank Units of the Eskan Bank Realty Income as the first REIT in BHB. In addition, four Sukuk issuances were listed with a total value of BHD 871 million.

The Board also issued a resolution to establish Bahrain Clear Company with an issued capital of BHD 5 million and paid-up capital of BHD 1 million. The nomination of the Board Members and Executive Management of the company were also made. Bahrain Clear will provide services in the areas of settlement, depository of securities, custodians, and other services to companies, investors, and other related parties.

In addition, the meeting approved the Listing Rules in order to enhance the role of BHB as a Self-Regulatory organisation (SRO) by expanding its legislative and supervisory authorities in aspects related to listing, disclosure, and investors’ protection as well as the obligations of issuers of securities.

The Board was also briefed on BHB’s strategic plan for 2016-2020, and agreed to focus on key actions that go in line with BHB’s vision in the upcoming period. It also praised BHB’s achievements in 2016 and appreciated the efforts of its employees throughout the year. In 2016, the Market Making Guidelines were implemented, resulting in the approval of the first market maker in BHB with another company to follow soon. Moreover, BHB’s new website was launched with an interactive interface offering comprehensive solutions to all BHB’s clients.

Bahrain Bourse also succeeded in transferring the paper shares certificates of all listed companies to the electronic records and depositing them in the Bourse's Central Depository System leading to the upgrade of Bahrain Bourse’s CSD services rating by Thomas Murray from A-, CSD Flash Impact: ‘Stable’, to CSD Rating: AA-, Flash Impact: ‘Positive’.

During the meeting, the Board approved BHB’s financial results for the year ended 31 December 2016 as well as the recommendation to the shareholder to re-appoint the Auditor. The Board discussed the evaluation criteria of BHB and BHB’s Corporate Governance Report for the year 2016. It also discussed the reports and recommendations of the Board’s Committees and decided on the actions to be taken.

CPI Financial