DIFX

DIFX - Dubai Stock Exchange (DIFX)

About the Dubai Stock Exchange :

The Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX) owned by the sole shareholder Dubai International Financial Centre Authority (DIFC), launched Dubai securities trading market in September 2005. As the DIFX is situated in the newly established financial free zone DIFC, all the operations of the Exchange together with all other financial activities in the DIFC are regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).

The DIFX is a fast-growing company seeking high goals. Although it started operating with four members on the board, the Exchange already has 13 member banks. It is expecting to have up to 40 members by the 2006 year-end. Also the governance of the DIFX is seeking to list 10 to 15 IPOs and to gain the market capitalization of minimum US$ 50 million by the end of 2006.

The Dubai Stock Exchange provides its members with one-stop solution to trading, clearing, and settlement through the fully electronic AtosEuronext Market Solutions NSC system. The Exchange does not require members to use a specific trading terminal, as a technical connection is offered.

The trading on the DIFX is operated through an anonymous hybrid system that combines order-driven systems with market making. Each member trading on the Dubai International Financial Exchange platform must either be a Clearing member of the DIFX or have relationship with a DIFX Clearing Member firm.

It is the first exchange in its region that has been created to list securities from many different countries. The Dubai Stock Exchange provides an opportunity for international investors to invest in the Middle East, North and South Africa, Turkey, Central Asia, and the Indian sub continent. To attract foreign investment, the DIFX's preferred trading currency is US dollar. In addition, the Dubai International Financial Exchange also has the capability to trade in Euros and Sterling on request. Unlike other independent exchanges in the region, the DIFX does not have limits on foreign ownership. The Dubai International Financial Exchange intends to bridge the gap between the Middle East markets and the markets in London, Singapore and Hong Kong.

DIFX - History of the Dubai Stock Exchange :

On September 29, 2004 the Dubai Stock Exchange was incorporated as a limited liability company inside the Dubai International Financial centre. It signed the contract with AtosEuronext, the supplier of automated trading platforms, and a software systems supplier Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), under which TCS would supply systems supporting clearing and settlement services for the DIFX.

Finally having received a license from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), the DIFX became a fully functioning exchange on September 26, 2005. Since its opening the exchange has made a rapid progress. It was opened with four members on board - Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, and UBS AG. After a month another global investment bank Citibank joined the exchange. Eight more members were included until early 2000.

Although the DIFX started trading with the listing of five Deutsche Bank index-linked equity products that were also traded in other exchanges, the DIFX list was shortly added with the National Bank of Dubai bonds and the world's largest sukuk, a US$ 3,5 billion issue by Dubai Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation in early 2006. Soon after that Mashreqbank debt instruments were listed on the exchange.

In March 2006, the DIFX announced the appointment of Per E. Larsson, former head of the Sweden-based OM Group (now OMX and owner of several Nordic Exchanges), as the next Chief Executive of the exchange.