Abu Dhabi and Dubai bourse merger would boost UAE recovery
Posted on 31 March 2010 with no comments from readers
It has long been an anomaly that a relatively small country like the UAE has three stock markets – the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, Dubai Financial Market and Nasdaq Dubai – and the logic for consolidation is overwhelming.
Now with the merger between the Nasdaq Dubai and Dubai Financial Market in its ‘very final’ stages, according to officials, there have also been talks about making this a three-way merger.
Government decision
This is clearly a decision to come from the government level. The ADX is 100 per cent government owned and the DFM has only listed 20 per cent of its stock. In December the DFM announced an agreement to buy Nasdaq OMX’s remaining stake in the Nasdaq Dubai in a $121 million deal.
The merger of the Nasdaq Dubai and DFM is actually more complicated than merging with the ADX from a regulatory standpoint as the two Dubai exchanges have different regulators, the Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority for the DFM and the Dubai Financial Services Authority for the Nasdaq Dubai.
Nasdaq Dubai stocks are also quoted in dollars and not the local UAE currency the dirham. After the merger Nasdaq Dubai listed companies will have a choice over whether to trade in both currencies, although the fixed peg to the dollar effectively makes the dirham a dollar proxy in any case.
UAE bourse a big step
But the creation of a unified UAE stock market is a far more important step. It would mark a decisive breach with the past and the disappointing performance of UAE bourses since their crash of late 2005. There would be a sense of a new start, and a start from a low point.
This would also be more than a symbol of the new unity of purpose in the UAE since the savage credit crunch first struck in autumn 2008 and the country dipped into recession last year for the first time in more than a decade.
For global investors a unified UAE stock market would look far more attractive. It would be a deeper and more liquid market. The potential for initial public offerings would be considerable. And this flow of funds into equities would assist the nation in a rapid recovery from last year’s recession.
