The Egyptian Exchange
From MarketsWiki
| The Egyptian Exchange | |
| Founded | 1997 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt |
| Key People | Maged Shawky, chairman |
| Products | Equities, bonds, mutual funds and ETFs |
| Web site | www.egyptse.com |
Formerly known as the Cairo & Alexandria Stock Exchanges (Case), the state-owned Egyptian Exchange is the result of a merger between the Alexandria Stock Exchange, which was informally established in 1888, and the Cairo Stock Exchange, which was incorporated in 1903.
CASE is the oldest stock market in the Middle East. This combined Egyptian market was closed in the 1950s during the socialist era and resumed trading in 1992. It is supervised by Capital Market Authority (CMA), another government entity created to control the safety of transactions carried out on CASE. The clearing and settlement of the transactions are accomplished by a subsidiary of CASE named Misr for Clearing and Settlement and Central Depository (MCSD).[1]
The exchanges list equities, government and corporate bonds, close-ended mutual funds and ETFs, as well as facilitating OTC trading, and are exploring expansion into derivatives in 2008. The exchange host the benchmark Case 30 Price Index, and its 196 listed companies had a market capitalization of $139bn at December 31, 2007[2].
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Structure and Regulation
The exchanges operate and main board and in October 2007 launched Milex, a new market for medium and small enterprises. The main board reclassified its listees from 22 to 17 sectors in September 2007 and launched sector indexes.
Trading hours for listed securities are 10.30am-2.30pm, and settlement is now T+2 for all listed securities. MCDR, a private company created in 1996 and owned by Case, banks and member firms, provides clearing and settlement services and is the country's central depositary. The Capital Market Authority (CMA) is the regulator for the exchange.
Case is an affiliate member of the World Federation of Exchanges, the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges), the African Stock Exchanges Association and the Union of Arab Stock Exchanges.
In the case of individuals, mutual funds and international funds, no taxes are levied on dividends, capital gain and interest on bonds. There is no stamp duty on securities. Profits of Egyptian corporations from investing in securities are subject to capital gains tax. [3]
History
The Alexandria Bourse was established in 1888 as a cotton exchange, with the Cairo Bourse following in 1903 as a stock-trading venue. The two merged in the 1940s to form the Cairo & Alexandria Bourses before closed with the nationlization of the private sector in July 1961. The exchanges were revived in 1992, and combined under the single umbrella organization in January 1997.
In January of 2007, CASE signed an agreement with OMX to provide a new trading system. [4]
References
- ↑ The Egyptian Exchange. Zawya Industry Classifications. Retrieved on November 20, 2008.
- ↑ Member Biography. FESE. Retrieved on January 10, 2008.
- ↑ CASE Profile. MBendi. Retrieved on December 17, 2007.
- ↑ "OMX Signs Contract with the Cairo & Alexandria Stock Exchanges to Deliver New Trading System". Business Wire/BNET.com. Retrieved on January 8, 2007.
