IR Monitor Middle East – April 2023 Round-Up
The month of April saw several developments across the region’s capital markets. Chief amongst these is the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange’s (ADX) appointment of Abdulla Al Nuaimi as its new CEO who will focus on utilising digital advancements to help investors access market opportunities, boost the investor base, and enhance market liquidity and competitiveness. In Saudi Arabia, Tadawul’s innovation arm, Wamid, has launched an online meeting management platform, Liqaa, to provide issuers, investors, and stakeholders with the option to conduct virtual engagements. The Saudi Capital Market Authority is strengthening its enforcement efforts against stock manipulation, having arrested 17 individuals for violating the Capital Market Law and calling on investors and dealers to limit their dealings to licensed institutions. Lastly, analysts are optimistic towards the GCC’s IPO pipeline this year, anticipating further public and private sector listings.
This month’s news
UAE, GCC IPO pipeline to remain robust in the near future: study
The UAE and GCC initial public offering (IPO) markets, which blossomed after the pandemic, will remain robust with more public and private sector companies taking this route in the near future, say analysts. Khaleej Times reports that, led by the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the Gulf countries have seen a flurry of IPO activities in the past couple of years as public and private sector entities raised billions of dollars. In 2022 alone, 12 companies in the UAE raised $11 billion.
Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange appoints new chief executive 
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), the Arab world’s second-largest bourse by market value, has appointed Abdulla Al Nuaimi as its new chief executive, reported The National. Al Nuaimi, who was previously the ADX’s chief operating officer, will focus on taking advantage of digital technology to help investors access market opportunities, which in turn will boost the bourse’s investor base, market liquidity and competitiveness, the ADX said in a statement last week.
Tadawul enables connectivity between issuers and stakeholders
As work continues to evolve the Investor Relations infrastructure of the region, Tadawul’s innovation arm Wamid launched a meeting management platform under the name Liqaa. The online platform will provide issuers, investors, entities, and stakeholders with the option to conduct virtual meetings with a suite of services before, during, and after meetings. The services will include livestream, translation, as well as Q&A services for annual general meetings (AGMs) as well as earning calls and any other corporate meetings.
Saudi CMA cracks down on stock price manipulation
As per a recent report, the Capital Markets Authority arrested 17 people this week in violation of the Kingdom’s Capital Market Law. One of the suspects was accused of two investment portfolios for investors in the Saudi Stock Exchange without obtaining a license from CMA. Another suspect allegedly participated with others in practices that involve manipulation and misinformation through inserting purchase orders with the aim of affecting the share prices of a number of companies listed in the market. CMA has called on investors and dealers to limit their dealings in securities to Capital Market institutions licensed by the Authority and not to deal with unlicensed persons.
Saudi Tadawul profit down 35 percent as trading values slide and costs rise
Stock exchange owner and operator Saudi Tadawul Group on Sunday reported a 35 percent decline in first-quarter profit after trading values halved and costs rose. As reported by Al Arabiya, net profit in the three months to March 31 fell to 90.8 million Saudi riyals ($24.2 million) from 140.6 million riyals a year earlier, the region’s largest bourse said in a stock market filing.
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