Capital market finalizes fourth phase of awareness workshop

Participants discuss rules governing bonds, sukuks

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 19, (KUNA): The Capital Market Authority has finalized fourth phase of its awareness workshop designed to promote its amended executive bylaws, effective since November 10th, in tune with issuance of the CMA constituent laws.

In a statement released on Saturday, the authority reiterated that its five-stage awareness workshop -each phase lasts for one week -- has been accompanied with issuing daily SMSs and statements on diverse social media means.

Participants in the workshops have discussed rules governing bonds and sukuks (Islamic bonds), defining authorities and parties that issue them, types of sukuks and various related trades and transactions. They have also tackled definition of the “best stocks,” regulations on the parties that own and trade in these shares; profit assembling, voting rights, profit sharing, asset surplus, transfer rights, auctioning, sustainable liabilities, revelations, financial statements and relevant notifications.

Issues

The participating experts have also addressed other issues, such as companies of special target that issue securities; defining these companies as those established with aim of issuing bonds, sukuks or other securities, as well as rules governing their establishment.

Other topics that were examined were financial safekeeping, regulations governing various related matters, companies’ enlisting, amendments regarding Kuwaiti joint stock companies, namely those that get CMA approval for floating their stocks through public subscription, regulations on enlisting bonds and sukuks of foreign source, enlisting of foreign funds, establishment of investment funds and collective enterprise.

The marathon awareness program is scheduled to conclude on Monday, with the execution of the fifth and last part of the work. During the upcoming session, the experts will look into various other regulations for the financial market, trades and transactions.

The CMA shed extensive light on the activity, which had gotten underway by addressing topics such as proportions of sales and purchase by the “party in control at the listed companies,” ceiling of sell-offs or purchases, durations, revelations’ terms for traded shares through affiliate companies.

Regulations

As to the second workshop, it tackled general regulations regarding revelations, transparency terms for the listed companies, rules for the board meetings during trading and mechanisms of posting information on the internet.

The third one dealt with interests’ disclosure, voting with respect of the shares in investment portfolios or e-accounts, regulations of securities’ transactions and times for banning operations, subscription floatation and other terms governing securities, conditions for enlisting and various forms of investment in the bourse.

The Authority has affirmed that enactment of its bylaws constitutes a major event at the local finance market.

The workshop agenda included clients’ funds and assets, matching records with accounts, defining measures in defaulting cases, terms of contracts and accords between the client and the licensed individual, type and objective of the portfolio, fees and commissions, work ethics, types of clients, provisions governing compulsory acquisitions, duration for assembling stocks and rules for voluntary acquisitions.