Boursa Kuwait hosts sustainability engagement session for listed firms

Session held in partnership with Sustainability Excellence

KUWAIT: Highlighting its commitment to promoting sustainable business practices in Kuwait’s capital markets, Boursa Kuwait recently concluded the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) engagement session for the fourth quarter of 2018 in collaboration with Sustainability Excellence, a leading provider of sustainability and ESG strategy and disclosure services in Kuwait and the Middle East.

The senior-level session, which was exclusively held for the companies listed on Boursa Kuwait under the theme, ‘The growing importance of ESG to investors’, was led by Ahmed Al-Kiswani, Executive Director, Risk Management, Compliance and Corporate Governance at Boursa Kuwait, who welcomed attendees and initiated the session, which featured presentations by the Sustainability Excellence (SE) team. In addition, one-on-one engagement sessions will be organized to conduct a review of customized benchmarking and ESG rating reports for companies and highlight the latest ESG market developments most relevant to individual firms.

As a signatory of the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative, Boursa Kuwait has been at the forefront of efforts aimed at advancing sustainability in capital markets around the world and promoting a culture of sustainability among listed companies. As investors are increasingly using ESG performance standards to screen potential investments, Boursa Kuwait’s initiatives in partnership with SE will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of securities markets.

Providing an overview of local, regional and international market forces that are accelerating sustainability reporting in Kuwait and the wider region, SE team shed light on wide-ranging implications of Boursa Kuwait’s Emerging Markets status upgrade for listed companies with regards to sustainability reporting. He also highlighted growing expectations of the private sector to align to ‘New Kuwait’ vision and explored a range of investment products that offer investors access to companies with high-quality ESG performance and reporting.

In their presentation, SE team shared his insight on key information investors seek when analyzing sustainability reports of companies. Stressing the importance of focusing on material ESG information, he discussed the ways to effectively structure sustainability reports in order to meet the demanding requirements of institutional investors and ESG rating agencies.

In addition, the participants of the ESG engagement session were briefed on Boursa Kuwait’s new and future initiatives aimed at enabling the exchange to meet the obligations of its participation in the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (SSE) and engage with listed companies and support their sustainability journeys.

Boursa Kuwait remains committed to making further leaps in driving sustainable practices and enhancing the transparency and the quality of sustainability reporting, in line with the sustainable development ambitions outlined in Kuwait’s longterm development plan for 2035, New Kuwait.