Latest news with #investorprotection
Zawya
4 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
UAE: SCA launches region's first 'Finfluencer' licence to regulate digital financial content
ABU DHABI - The Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) has officially launched the region's first 'Finfluencer' licence - an innovative regulatory milestone aimed at formalising and supervising digital financial content. This ground-breaking initiative seeks to establish a clear governance framework for individuals offering investment analysis, recommendations, and financial promotions across digital platforms. This initiative is designed to enhance investor protection in the UAE. Commenting on the initiative, Waleed Saeed Al Awadhi, CEO of the SCA, stated, 'Introducing the Finfluencer license is not merely a regulatory measure; it is a strategic move to redefine the role of regulators in the digital economy. Through this initiative, the SCA aspires to elevate global benchmarks of market integrity, foster transparency, and nurture a disciplined and trustworthy financial environment. "The SCA positions itself as an enabler of transformative change, adopting forward-thinking regulatory models that evolve with the fast-paced dynamics of the financial and investment landscape.' This initiative comes as part of a package of incentive measures adopted by the SCA to align its regulatory framework with the fast-moving landscape of digital finance. The SCA has waived registration, renewal and, legal consultation fees related to this service, for a period of three years. This is in line with efforts to eliminate government bureaucracy and promote financial innovation within a robust legal and regulatory framework. The licence is available to individuals who offer financial or investment recommendations related to regulated products or entities within the UAE through digital or traditional media. Eligible applicants must register with the SCA and comply with all applicable regulatory obligations, ensuring the highest standards of investor protection and reinforcing public trust in the local capital markets. A Finfluencer is an individual registered with the SCA to provide financial recommendations related to the purchase, sale, or holding of a financial product or virtual asset, or to offer recommendations related to a financial service or any local resource within the country. This may be done through traditional or modern media channels, such as various written or audio social media platforms, participation in seminars, meetings, or forums, blogging, public appearances by any means, or through statements, opinions, or analyses about the present or future value, price, or expected performance. It also includes individuals who engage the public through content, visuals, advice, recommendations, discussions, information, analyses, opinions, or reports related to financial investments or specific financial products within the country. This initiative is integral to the SCA's overarching strategic vision of elevating the UAE's position as a leading regional and global financial hub. By embracing agile and forward-looking regulatory approaches, the SCA reaffirms its commitment to safeguarding market integrity, advancing financial literacy, and aligning with international best practices in the rapidly evolving digital financial landscape.
Zawya
5 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
India limits equity derivatives expiries to Tuesdays and Thursdays: IFR
India's market regulator said expiries of all equity derivatives contracts will be limited to Tuesdays or Thursdays to protect investor interests and promote market stability. Spacing out expiry days through the week reduces concentration risk and provides exchanges an opportunity to offer product differentiation to market participants, the Securities and Exchange Board of India said in a statement on Monday. Additionally, "too many expiry days has the potential to revive expiry day hyperactivity which could jeopardize investor protection and market stability," the regulator said. The change is effective June 15. Sebi in March launched a consultation for this proposal after the National Stock Exchange proposed changing its expiry day to Monday, a day before BSE's. Currently, NSE offers expiries on Thursdays. Exchanges will need to seek prior Sebi approval to modify the settlement day of their derivatives contracts, the regulator said.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
India limits derivatives expiry days to Tuesday or Thursday
BENGALURU (Reuters) -India's markets regulator said that expiries of all equity derivatives contracts will be limited to either Tuesdays or Thursdays from next month, to enhance investor protection and market stability. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said in a statement on Monday that spacing out of expiry days through the week reduces risk and enables stock exchanges to offer product differentiation. SEBI said that "too many expiry days has the potential to revive expiry day hyperactivity which could jeopardize investor protection and market stability." The change will come into effect on June 15. In October, SEBI reduced the number of weekly options contracts available for investors to trade to one benchmark index per exchange, among other measures to curb a frenzy in derivatives trading. Since then, while exchanges have restricted their weekly contract expiries to one, they have been trying to offer contracts expiring on different days of the week, going against the regulator's objective of reducing opportunities for retail investors to speculate on such contracts. SEBI said on Monday that exchanges will have to seek its approval for modifying the settlement day of derivatives contracts. At present, India's largest exchange National Stock Exchange (NSE) offers expiries on Thursdays, while competitor BSE Ltd offers them on Tuesdays. NSE, in March, put on hold a proposed change of Nifty expiry days from Thursday to Monday from April 5, 2025.
Zawya
6 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
Kenya's financial regulators seek to boost issuers' victim compensation
Kenya's financial sector regulators are discussing a proposal to require fund managers, investment banks and stockbrokers to make full disclosures of their clients whose funds are invested in corporate bonds. This is in an attempt to improve the value of compensation to victims of distressed bond issuers and save the corporate bond market from further crisis of confidence. The customer disclosures, the regulators say, will help to ensure bondholders of collapsed or defaulting issuers receive maximum compensation. Currently, fund managers pool together resources from several clients and make investments in corporate bonds as single investments and usually in their name, without disclosing the identities of the investors. This means that in the event an issuer falls into distress, the investment will be treated as a being from a single investor—the fund manager. Therefore, in the case of the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), the fund manager's compensation will be limited to a maximum of Ksh200,000 ($1,550.38), and this has to be shared among the many investors whose resources had been pooled to invest in the bond. Assuming the fund manager collected hundreds of millions from investors and bought a corporate bond, the investors would lose heavily. The financial regulators believe if the identities of the investors in the pooled investment are disclosed, each of them can be treated as an independent bondholder and thus minimise losses.'I think this has been a very good discussion largely and a lot of progress has been made. So, I need to confirm where we are, but I think these discussions have been very helpful. They have involved, of course, all the parties under the joint financial sector regulators and I think they made very good progress,' CMA Chief Executive Wycliffe Shamiah told The EastAfrican in an interview.'The issues of disclosures are the ones we are trying to see how we can make it easier for those who are making these investments, and it has sort of been agreed,' he added. He indicated that discussion among all financial sector regulators—CMA, Central bank of Kenya, Insurance Regulatory Authority, Retirement Benefits Authority and Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority—are centered on full disclosure of the investors whose money is invested by fund managers, investment banks and brokers in bond issues.'We have learnt from experience. For instance, if you find fund manager A has put Ksh100 million ($775,193.79) in a corporate bond. This fund manager is not using money from one person. There are many people who have given him money, so when the Ksh100 million goes bust there are many people who have burnt their fingers because the money was for many investors,' said Mr Shamiah.'So what we were discussing is how we can make it so that when people are being compensated you don't just look at the fund manager alone. You have a way of the fund manager sharing with the rest of the people who are the specific investors so that each of them can be seen as a separate investor,' he added. These discussions follow public outcry over the loss of investor funds in several companies that collapsed or defaulted on their debt repayments after issuing bonds. For instance, in 2015, Chase and Imperial banks were given the go-ahead to issue Ksh4.8 billion ($37.2 million) and Ksh2 billion ($15.5 million) bonds, respectively, only for the two lenders to be pushed into receivership in quick succession by the Central Bank as a result of financial and corporate governance issues. Other companies that have in the past defaulted on their obligations in the corporate debt market include Nakumatt (collapsed), ARM Cement (in liquidation), Real People Kenya Ltd and Consolidated Bank of Kenya, which was later bailed out by the National Treasury. Attempts by the CMA to amend the deposit protection law - separating fund managers' bond investments from customer deposits and other bank liabilities to protect bondholders in case of a bank collapse -have been unsuccessful. The absence of a compensation scheme for bondholders in collapsed companies has instilled fear of investing in corporate bonds. Treasury bonds remain dominant in the Kenyan bond market, accounting for about 99.93 per cent of the debt market. As of December 31, 2024, there were five active listed corporate bond issuers on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, with the total outstanding amount of bond issues at Ksh19.5 billion ($151.16 million). These are East African Breweries Ltd (Ksh11 billion or $85.27 million), Real People Kenya Ltd (Ksh390.93 million or $3.03 million), Family Bank Ltd (Ksh4 billion or $31 million), Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (Ksh1.1 billion or $8.52 million) and Linzi Sukuk (Ksh3 billion or $23.25 million). © Copyright 2022 Nation Media Group. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Argaam
20-05-2025
- Business
- Argaam
Saudi stock market boosted regional, global standing in 2024: Elkuwaiz
Mohammed Elkuwaiz, Chairman of the Capital Market Authority (CMA), said the Saudi stock market enhanced its standing both regionally and globally in 2024. He added that the market ranked first among G20 countries in several global indicators, including financial markets, market capitalization, shareholders' equity, and venture capital. Commenting on the CMA's 2024 annual report, Elkuwaiz noted that the market recorded a historic leap in assets under management, surpassing SAR 1 trillion by the end of 2024. Additionally, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) soared 935% compared to 2023, while funds of funds surged 126.5% to more than SAR 10 billion. As for the sukuk and debt instruments market, the Chairman highlighted that the value of issuances leapt 20% to SAR 663.5 billion, with total proceeds of SAR 40.4 billion. This reflects the growing role of the market in financing major national projects. Regarding investor protection, Elkuwaiz pointed out that the compensations awarded as per final rulings of the Committee for Resolution of Securities Disputes exceeded SAR 389 million, an increase of 59% compared to 2023. This coincided with a reduction in the average litigation duration to approximately four months.
