• Home
• /
• Local business

UAE suggests unified gulf licence; listing procedures

“The UAE has suggested the Unified Gulf License, or UGL, procedure, whereby PJSC that will be set up in any member state shall acquire a license, which takes into consideration requirements in all member states,” said Abdullah Al Turifi, the Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority, or SCA ,while addressing the first Meeting of the Ministerial Committee of Chairmen of GCC Regulators Board, held in Riyadh last week.

Al Turifi asked for unified Initial Public Offering, or IPO, regulations and procedures, coordination of the timings of IPOs and putting in place a common text for cooperation and partnership agreements between brokerage and financial services.

“But, the issues that can be dealt with in stages, according to a timeframe and priority include updating of guidance regulations regarding shares and securities,” the SCA 
chief suggested.

“Restructuring of the securities markets of the GCC be done in a way that takes into consideration the transformation of region’s share markets into listed holding companies, having common listing rules and supervision of investment funds, corporate governance and creating new investment tools besides mechanisms on derivatives and short selling,” he added.

Commenting on the meeting, Al Turifi said, “Riyadh meeting discussed integration of securities markets through the unification of rules and regulations. It reflects the priority attached to boost integration of GCC securities markets.”

Atul Shukla, a partner at Jitendra Chartered Accountants in Dubai welcomed the idea, which is surely a very beneficial for the GCC economy bloc.

He said that unified stock exchange regulatory requirements will bring greater transparency, good corporate governance and confidence in the region’s share markets.

“The idea is to put a united front to face the global financial crisis by greater integration of stock markets,” Shukla said. With the cross-listing, he expected business volumes to increase ‘significantly’, as there are about 500-active scrips in the GCC, which will ease out liquidity concerns and attract foreign investment.

However, in the initial stage, uniformity can be achieved by having same procedures and compliance requirements in all stock exchange regulatory matters. The strategy also recommends developing the debt securities, including Sukuks and by approving the legal and technical framework declaration and setting up institutions that regulate them. —haseeb@khaleejtimes.com