Shirwan Anwar, Deputy Administrative Board of Erbil market for securities said in a statement on the sidelines of the conference that the conference aims to rally material and moral support to the local and external opening of Erbil Stock Exchange Securities.
He added that there are currently 56 financial companies, chambers of commerce and industry with all of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs in the government of the region involved in this market.
He pointed out that the market is scheduled to open at the end of next August.
(IFC), is a member of the World Bank Group which is the largest development international institution as its work in more than 100 developing countries for companies and financial institutions allows to create jobs, generate tax revenues , improve corporate governance and environmental performance and contribute to the communities in which they operate .
Talking about the establishment of exchange market in Kurdistan has taken place for years to be based in Erbil.
In 2008, the Kurdistan Regional Government said that the upcoming bourse will be independent of the Baghdad Stock Exchange, taking care to find understanding and agree to work between the two exchanges.
It is hoped that the Government of the region would contribute with 20 percent of the shares of stock to ensure adequate support for its work, before embarking on a sale of the remaining shares in the market in accordance with the law prepared for this purpose.
Kurdistan has become a major center of attraction for capital and investors in the Middle East, where investors come for business opportunities available in energy, reconstruction or other fields and take advantage of privileges granted by the Government of the Region under the Investment Law.
The stability of the region also played a prominent role in the qualitative development witnessed by the various sectors of the economy.
Shafaq News 23 April
http://www.ifpinfo.com/Finance%20&%20Banking%20-NewsArticle-4499#.U785upRdXIc Image
ERBIL STOCK EXCHANGE LAUNCH THIS YEAR, AS ECONOMY SURGES AHEAD 4/28/2014 ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Erbil Stock Exchange (ESX) plans to launch by the end of the year, making it the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan Region’s first private joint-stock market.
While there are other exchanges in Iraq, this will be the first in the northern Kurdish enclave. Its primary focus is on listing Kurdish companies, although it also fashions itself as a
secure gateway to the greater Iraqi market. Initial plans are to focus on equities trade (stocks), although energy companies have expressed interest in
issuing corporate bonds on the exchange. The birth of ESX comes amid an economic boom in the Kurdistan Region, the only calm and secure portion of violence-torn Iraq and a thriving business hub. Foreign companies
, including international energy giants, are attracted by opportunities locally, and are increasingly keen on using Kurdistan as a gateway for opportunities in the rest of Iraq. Shwan Taha, chairman of Iraq’s largest brokerage house, Rabee Securities, suggests a stock market could attract a new level of foreign capital. “The trade relationship with Turkey is very important.
But as far as investments in Kurdistan and Iraq, we haven‘t really started foreign investment. Even Turkish companies haven’t invested in Kurdistan massively yet.
We’re just at the tip of the iceberg.” According to recent government figures, the volume of investment in the region has reached $37 billion, some 80 percent of which is local. Kurdistan still remains a largely cash economy, where many people distrust banks and prefer to hoard cash in their homes.
Yet, they are looking for a way to put their money to work, aware it is unsafe and unproductive inside their proverbial mattresses. It is common for Kurdish investors to park their money in real estate.
Not everyone, however, expects property values to rise forever. Many seek to diversify their asset portfolio, piquing curiosity in the idea of a stock exchange. The primary challenge for ESX is encouraging Kurdistan’s many family companies to “go public.” An initial public offering (IPO) can raise capital for businesses, but it also requires transparent accounts.
“There is curiosity but also concern. When you become joint stock, you have to make your finances public. Kurdish people are very private, especially when it comes to finances,” according to Jehan Akrayi, manager of the ESX’s Broker-Dealer Department.
In order to explain how an IPO can benefit companies and address the concerns of skeptics, ESX has held workshops, seminars, and conferences for potential issuers of stock. They have even gone to universities to educate the younger generation about how a stock market works.
Taha emphasizes that the ESX needs to engage only a small section of society right now: Those who can list on the exchange, and those with lots of cash to invest. “What we need is to educate institutions that the stock market is a good thing.
This means insurance companies, banks, pension funds and the large families in Iraq who can actually buy significant shares of a company. Dabbling in stocks isn’t everybody’s business.”
“The majority of the population doesn’t understand what it means to own a share in a company, what your rights are, and what you get for it. You have to compare your average person on the street with somebody in Turkey in the 80s or in Dubai in the early 90s.” Even so, more than just a few rich individuals and companies could benefit.
A robust stock exchange would strengthen the Kurdish social security system
, allowing pension funds to invest in the expanding economy. Taha emphasizes that a population boom is underway, and that Kurdistan should make the most of its petrodollars in anticipation of an ageing population. “As a resource-rich economy where the majority of the population is young today, we have to look at the future. We need a good pension system that could provide for this generation when the tide turns.”
“In Kurdistan,
we need huge investment. We can’t just provide that from exporting oil. In the coming 20-30 years we need to bring a lot of leverage in and have a thriving stock market whereby
we can attract foreign capital interest.” Expanding the Kurdish financial system
is also a hedge against political instability, transferring economic power from the public to the private sector. The region has been locked in a dispute with Baghdad over oil revenues and marketing rights.
The Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has pulled the plug on funding to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), delaying the delivery of state salaries, pensions, and public projects. Half-empty bazaars are a reminder that one in every 2.5 people in the region rely on government funds.
A stronger private sector would hedge against further meddling. Lukman Surji, director of communications at ESX, admits that the economy has been hurt by tensions with the Iraqi capital.
“It is affecting us. But is it permanent? No. Baghdad has two choices:
give us our salary or we settle our own law. We don’t want to be independent, but if you don’t want us to be a part of Iraq, we will find ways to take care of ourselves. Kurds survive.” Like Erbil itself, the exchange is growing quickly.
It is looking to expand from 20 to 50 employees in the next months, although it still has to flesh out its spare headquarters, which quite noticeably is missing a lobby. The small team is working with an American consulting firm, Louis Borger Group Inc., to prepare for the launch.
ESX signed a five-year contract with NASDAQ
OMX in October to use its state of the art “X-stream” trade platform. Employees and management have been training and exchanging expertise with the Dubai Financial Market since 2012. ESX has $8 million in initial capitalization and 56 shareholders, primarily from the private sector.
The first financial instruments were invented in this area 5,000 years ago, when clay tablets served as transferable promissory notes for deliveries of goods like barley or silver.
Today, one part of modern Mesopotamia is poised return to the forefront of financial innovation. http://www.erbil-esx.com/Default.aspx?page=article&c=ticker&id=668 ERBIL STOCK EXCHANGE (ESX) HAS ENTERED INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH KITS COMPANY 5/6/2014 March 13, 2014
Image
ERBIL-Hewlêr, Kurdistan region ‘Iraq’,— Erbil Stock Exchange (ESX) in Iraq’s Kurdistan region has entered into an agreement with the KITS Company
to implement data centers and associated network components. The contract that was signed by Mr. Abdullah Abdulrahim, chairman of ESX and Mr. Rebaz, General Manager of KITS. Company Under the terms of the agreement KITS to provide Network Design, Data centers, IBM, hardware, Cisco systems and other supporting equipments for NASDAQ OMX, X-Stream trading platform. Plus, technical and maintenance support during and after the implementation process.
This project is in support of the deployment of Nasdaq’s trading system X-STREAM which was adoptedwww.Ekurd.net by the exchange. “X-STREAM is a robust trading engine and it is extremely important that we put in place a sophisticated infrastructure
to ensure we have a trading environment at its best performance” Said Ahmed Zaki, ICT director at ESX.
“We are very pleased to be supporting ESX through our services and technology. Kurdistan is fast becoming a magnet for foreign investors as it begins a new dawn.
KURDISTAN’S capital market is one of the most important markets in the region, and we feel ESX is in an even stronger position to continue its strong growth and
attract new foreign and domestic investors through operating our technology,” said Rebaz Abu Bakr Rufaat, General Manager of KITS Company. Erbil Stock Exchange Media Contact Lukman Surji
http://www.erbil-esx.com/Default.aspx?page=article&c=ticker&id=688 *********************
Post by Sager » July 10th, 2014, 9:35 pm • [Post 44]
ERBIL STOCK EXCHANGE –
Erbil – Iraq Press -24 June: approved Arab Federation of Exchanges (AFE) to join the market Arbil Securities Union membership. Having participated Erbil market for securities for the first time in early June of this at the annual meeting of the Union of Arab Stock Exchanges, which was held in Dubai, called Arbil to accept membership in the Arab Union, the Union has responded positively to the demand.
Abdullah said Ahmed Abdel Rahim Chairman of the Administrative Council of the market Arbil Securities in a press statement that “we demanded admission of market Arbil in the Union of Arab Stock Exchanges, has requested that international organization to study the demand and see the biography of Arbil Stock Exchange, and the reply was in the affirmative by the union to accept the membership of Arbil “.
He added: “Neil Auah Arab Union would initiate the doors to Erbil Stock Exchange, and our staff could participate in training and development courses and benefit from the experiences of members of the Union in promoting the work of the market.”
The mean organic market in Erbil Union of Arab Stock Exchanges, has allowed the opportunity to Arbil for the transfer of expertise through meetings and conferences qualifying sessions and development that are held for members, as well as the preparation of research and economic studies necessary for the success of the development of market Arbil. “
With regard to the affairs and functions of the Stock Exchange of Arbil, said Abdul Rahim said that “market Arbil working on plans in accordance with the Arab Stock Exchange, and waiting for the system to work from a company (NASDAQ Aumiks) the end of August / August next year.”
He said the managing director of Arbil Stock Exchange that “in the absence of objection impediments to work, it is expected to be the opening of Arbil Stock Exchange later this year, and work on the buying and selling shares of companies, especially that there are large numbers of well-known companies registered in Burstna gave guarantees and credits required, and expected that the majority of companies involved in the Kurdistan region in Erbil Stock Exchange. “
He reported that the “transactions for the purchase of shares of companies will be in Iraqi dinars, we do not believe that the opening of the stock market will have an impact on the rise or decline of the dinar or the dollar.” Noting that “accession to the EU market Arbil, the number of members of the Arab Union of 18 members.”
It is worth mentioning that the Erbil market for securities was a proposal from the private sector to support the government of the Kurdistan region, and for the upgrading of Kurdistan to be a gateway for investment in Iraq, and encourage companies to promote the economic reality and deal its shares. Ended. Q.
http://www.iraqpressagency.com/?p=70612&lang=ar *************************
Post From KTFA By Jonesmax:
FRANK SIR, THIS ONE LINE IS INTERESTING….. :hmmm: JJ
“By the end of July they will hand over the system to us. “
END OF A LONG PROCESS NEARS AS IRAQI KURDISTAN’S ESX CHIEF PREDICTS BRIGHT FUTURE 5/6/2014 February 22, 2014 Image
ERBIL-Hewlêr, Kurdistan region ‘Iraq’,— The Erbil Stock Exchange (ESX) aims to be up and running in a few months time. Here, Abdullah Abdulraheem, the chairman of the ESX, talks exclusively to The National about the exchange and his plans.
How close are you and your team to the launch of the Erbil Stock Exchange? We are in the final quarter of the set up stage but, of course, it has been a long process. It was first raised in 2007 and 2008 by [Massoud Barzani, the president of Iraqi Kurdistan], who wanted to know if we could launch a joint exchange with Baghdad.
We held two or three conferences and decided that there was room for a new stock exchange in Iraq aside from the ISX [Iraq Stock Exchange]. We are now looking at a launch
at the end of August or September. What is the reason for the delay? We are a little bit delayed but this was for our own sake. Due to our lack of knowledge we asked for assistance, which I think will attract more international investors. We are in a better position now, and I think that is good for all sides.
We have asked for assistance from Nasdaq OMX and on February 21 the their team will arrive in Erbil and bring a copy of the system here to be installed. Their staff will train our staff for two weeks
. By the end of July they will hand over the system to us. We need one or two months to get ready after that. What are your expectations in terms of initial public offerings? We don’t expect to have a lot of IPOs in the first year. I expect between five to 10 in the first year. We have identified various sectors: we have two or three banks, two or three companies in agriculture and some in thewww.Ekurd.net industrial sector.
And going forward, we have many international oil companies in the Kurdistan region that we will try and attract too, to get them involved. I do not believe this is [too ambitious]
. [The UAE’s] Emaar could be listed both here and in Dubai, for example, and [Shrajah-based] Dana Gas as could [firms such as] Pepsi [in Erbil and New York]. Will the ISX and ESX be rivals? For sure, each stock exchange would like to be the winner and both of us would like to keep the companies that are listed on our exchanges.
My expectation is that there are about 85 companies that are listed on the ISX that would be keen to cancel their listing there and join the ESX. But we would like to take part or contribute to the boom of the Iraqi economy in general.
Is there another stock exchange that the ESX has looked at to imitate? Of course, if we imitate anyone we would want to imitate the successful ones. Last year we had a field visit to Dubai. We stayed about three or four days and had a look at how it works. At the end of our visit we signed a [memorandum of understanding].
What kind of investors are you targeting at the ESX? Our goal is to bring in money, which is not invested, to flush it into the market. We want to attract both retail and institutional investors, of course, but one of the reasons that many people keep their cash at home and don’t like to deposit it in banks because of their beliefs –
they think it is not right, under Sharia for example – we’d like to persuade them otherwise.
But the second goal is to make it a channel to bring in international investment in the region. We want international, non-Iraqi investment through this. There is a stable situation here in Kurdistan, unlike the rest of Iraq. We don’t want people to hesitate to invest here. Is it difficult to persuade family-owned companies to go public? It is not easy but we are trying to convince them.
We want to convince them through the media, and so on that by going through IPOs and becoming joint stock companies you can raise a lot more funds and you can create jobs also.
What do you see as the role of the ESX in the economy of Iraqi Kurdistan more generally? It is important for the economy more generally of course; this is a good qualitative step. It’s a turning point.
http://www.erbil-esx.com/Default.aspx?page=article&c=ticker&id=688 JJONESMX
****************
Post From KTFA by Sager » July 10th, 2014, 10:16 pm • [Post 58]
FRANK HERE’S THE ARTICLE I MENTIONED ABOUT ESX USING DINARS
ERBIL STOCK EXCHANGE – Erbil – Iraq Press -24 June: approved Arab Federation of Exchanges (AFE) to join the market Arbil Securities Union membership.
Having participated Erbil market for securities for the first time in early June of this at the annual meeting of the Union of Arab Stock Exchanges, which was held in Dubai, called Arbil to accept membership in the Arab Union, the Union has responded positively to the demand.
Abdullah said Ahmed Abdel Rahim Chairman of the Administrative Council of the market Arbil Securities in a press statement that “we demanded admission of market Arbil in the Union of Arab Stock Exchanges, has requested that international organization to study the demand and see the biography of Arbil Stock Exchange, and the reply was in the affirmative by the union to accept the membership of Arbil “.
He added: “Neil Auah Arab Union would initiate the doors to Erbil Stock Exchange, and our staff could participate in training and development courses and benefit from the experiences of members of the Union in promoting the work of the market.”
The mean organic market in Erbil Union of Arab Stock Exchanges, has allowed the opportunity to Arbil for the transfer of expertise through meetings and conferences qualifying sessions and development that are held for members, as well as the preparation of research and economic studies necessary for the success of the development of market Arbil. “
With regard to the affairs and functions of the Stock Exchange of Arbil, said Abdul Rahim said that “market Arbil working on plans in accordance with the Arab Stock Exchange, and waiting for the system to work from a company (NASDAQ Aumiks) the end of August / August next year.”
He said the managing director of Arbil Stock Exchange that “in the absence of objection impediments to work, it is expected to be the opening of Arbil Stock Exchange later this year, and work on the buying and selling shares of companies, especially that there are large numbers of well-known companies registered in Burstna gave guarantees and credits required, and expected that the majority of companies involved in the Kurdistan region in Erbil Stock Exchange. “
He reported that the
“transactions for the purchase of shares of companies will be in Iraqi dinars, we do not believe that the opening of the stock market will have an impact on the rise or decline of the dinar or the dollar.” Noting that “accession to the EU market Arbil, the number of members of the Arab Union of 18 members.”
It is worth mentioning that the Erbil market for securities was a proposal from the private sector to support the government of the Kurdistan region, and for the upgrading of Kurdistan to be a gateway for investment in Iraq, and encourage companies to promote the economic reality and deal its shares. Ended. Q.
http://www.iraqpressagency.com/?p=70612&lang=ar ******************
Post From KTFA by JJONESMX » July 10th, 2014, 10:29 pm • [Post 61]
Frank Sir….JJ
iraqi constitution says iraqi govt is now illegal – but does anybody care? niqash | Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | 10.07.2014 Iraq’s Parliament in Baghdad, scene of multiple violations of the Iraqi Constitution recently.
After last week’s abject failure by the new Iraqi Parliament to achieve anything, the country is now being run by an illegal government operating in a power vacuum. Meanwhile Parliament cannot manage any business and merrily violates the Iraqi Constitution it once wrote, several times, in one single session. And nobody seems to care. The Iraqi Parliament held its first session after the country’s recent general elections on July 1. The different groups inside Parliament – Iraq’s Sunni and Shiite Muslims, the Iraqi Kurdish and the various smaller ethnic groups – were supposed to agree which politicians would hold the country’s most senior positions. This included the Speaker of Parliament as well as a new President and Prime Minister. But they did not.
Instead there was fighting about budgets and positions and after a recess, many MPs stayed away from the final part of the session. All of this is happening because Iraq’s politicians have grown used to violating their own national Constitution, a Constitution the Parliament itself ratified.
Several articles of the Iraqi Constitution were violated at that July 1 meeting. The first was the failure of MPs to choose a permanent Speaker of the House.
Article 55 of the Constitution says: “The Council of Representatives shall elect in its first session its speaker, then his first deputy and second deputy, by an absolute majority of the total number of the Council members by direct secret ballot”.
This didn’t happen because as Iraqi political expert Reidar Visser wrote on his website: “When the session resumed, many of the 255 deputies that had been present at the outset failed to show up.
What apparently had happened was that Kurds and Sunni Arabs deliberately boycotted … with suggestions that both protested what they saw as a failure by the Shiite alliance to come up with a replacement candidate for Nouri al-Maliki as premier. What was clear, at any rate, was that there was no speaker candidate.”
The session ended after the temporary Speaker of the House agreed with the Shiite Muslim politicians still present at the end as to when the next session of Parliament might be. Concluding the session without a new Speaker was a constitutional violation –
it should have gone on until one was chosen. “It would now be easy to challenge the constitutionality of that first session of Parliament,” says Nasser Jamil, a local legal expert.
“It could be considered void,” he told NIQASH. “Although I am sure the politicians won’t contest the session because they themselves approved of the violations and asked the temporary Speaker to conclude the session.” And there were further violations. The first session of Parliament was attended by 255 MPs out of a total of 328 which means that 73 of them didn’t take an oath of office as is stipulated by Article 50 of the Iraqi Constitution.
Additionally some of the politicians who did take the oath of office are actually still in office. This is a further violation of Article 49 of the Constitution which says that, “it is not permissible to combine membership in [Parliament] with any work or other official position”. Some of the politicians present on July 1 have yet to resign and are still holding their government jobs – this includes Iraq’s Prime Minister, along with several other senior ministers. And now that Parliament has failed to elect a new Speaker of the House, the Constitution itself is a problem once again. Local legal experts say that its wording is too general and it doesn’t provide any clarification as to what should happen if it is violated – as it was on July 1. Nor does it stipulate what sorts of penalties there might be for violations.
There is a generally acknowledged need for constitutional ambiguities to be amended or to be clarified by new laws – however Iraqi politicians have failed to pass the needed laws or amendments.
On the other hand, political experience in Iraq after 2003 has shown that it is almost impossible to stay true to the time frames that the Constitution demands. Nothing gets done quickly because everything requires lengthy discussions and negotiations between those three biggest components in the Iraqi Parliament – the Shiite and Sunni Muslims and the Iraqi Kurdish – before anything gets done.
It is already clear that it is going to take weeks, if not months, to choose the most senior members of the Iraqi Parliament. After elections in 2010, it took seven months before the new government was formed.
Nor does the Iraqi Constitution give politicians any idea how to proceed when the country is in a state of crisis, as it currently is.
Which brings up yet another cause for constitutional concern: The current Iraqi government should have suspended its work while the new government was being formed. And because Parliament has not managed to convene, the current government is actually continuing its work without any constitutional basis.
Since March 25, 2014, al-Maliki’s government has been operating without any supervision from the country’s elected representatives. That was the date of the last Parliamentary session before general elections. Basically al-Maliki’s government is operating in a power vacuum, with no checks and balances. It is true that Iraq’s politicians have never been too careful about doing as the Iraqi Constitution says.
There are several high profile examples of this, including violations of Article 140 which deals with the disputed territories – that is, territory that both Iraq’s Arabs and Iraq’s Kurdish want to claim as their own.
The Constitution says this issue should have been dealt with by the end of 2007. Seven years later, nothing has really changed – even though the Iraqi Kurds have now taken control of some of the disputed territory they have always wanted, thanks to the Sunni Muslim extremists.
In other democracies, constitutional violations such as those practised by Iraq’s politicians would have been punished, early elections would have been called, legal authorities would have stepped in or leaders would have been impeached. But not in Iraq.
And it seems as though now, there are more violations of the Iraqi Constitution than ever. Yet because everyone – from journalists to politicians to voters – is so used to the flouting of laws like this, such violations are simply accepted while politicians only care about who gets the best jobs and most power.
The next session of Parliament is to be held next week – on July 13 – but nobody seems confident about its abilities to find a new Speaker of the House and two deputies.
All of this – combined with the political power vacuum and an illegal government – is not helping to confront the threat posed to the whole country by Sunni Muslim extremist groups. Which may well make them the biggest winners right now. It is fairly obvious that the Iraqi people are not.
http://www.niqash.org/articles/?id=3492 Post From KTFA by Sager » July 10th, 2014, 11:17 pm • [Post 69]
Kurdistan Regional Government – Disable the official working hours on Sunday and Monday of next week
Khandan – Kurdistan Regional Government has decided to disable the official working hours on Sunday and Monday of next week, in all government departments and institutions in the Kurdistan region.