Kuwait’s stock exchange on Sunday will implement the latest set of changes aimed at attracting investors and increasing the number of initial public offerings.
The index will divide its stocks into three sections, based on criteria including their market capitalisation and the volume of shares traded. It will introduce new indexes, including a Premier Market grouping together 16 of Kuwait’s largest and most liquid companies.
Authorities started a series of measures last year to update infrastructure for equities trading with the goal of stirring international interest in the market and jolting into life a large portion of its shares that barely move each day. The benchmark that is in place now has 156 members. On any given day, at least 40 of those have closed unchanged in the past five years.
"We've seen interest from multiple parties to list," said Khaled Al Khaled, chief executive of Boursa Kuwait, in New York. Previously, the exchange's requirements have "pushed people away". With the changes that take effect on Sunday, the exchange will be a more desirable listing destination, he said.
Six months ago, index compiler FTSE Russell classified Kuwait as an emerging market, starting in September. The inclusion is expected to draw $826 million to Kuwaiti stocks, according to estimates by EFG-Hermes. MSCI classifies Kuwait as a frontier market.
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Read more:
Kuwait vies to reposition itself as hub for business
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Each of the 16 companies in the so-called Premier Market will have a market capitalisation of at least 144 million Kuwaiti dinars (Dh1.76 billion) and average daily trading of at least 90,000 dinars, according to Boursa Kuwait. An index tracking that segment will gather about 60 per cent of the current overall market capitalisation, and its members will be requested to hold quarterly analyst conferences and make filings in both Arabic and English.
The Premier Market Price Return Index will include National Bank of Kuwait SAKP, Mobile Telecommunications, or Zain, and logistics company Agility Public Warehousing KSC.
A second market level, known as the Main Market, will cover stocks with average daily trading of 22,500 dinars to 90,000 dinars, and have 148 members. A third layer of stocks with low liquidity, regardless of their market value, will fall under the Auction Market.
“We’re engaging with investors and showing what we’re doing,” Mr Al Khaled said. The restructuring of the market will help “set a proper infrastructure” for exchange traded funds and derivatives, he said.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
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LA LIGA FIXTURES
Saturday (UAE kick-off times)
Leganes v Getafe (12am)
Levante v Alaves (4pm)
Real Madrid v Sevilla (7pm)
Osasuna v Valladolid (9.30pm)
Sunday
Eibar v Atletico Madrid (12am)
Mallorca v Valencia (3pm)
Real Betis v Real Sociedad (5pm)
Villarreal v Espanyol (7pm)
Athletic Bilbao v Celta Vigo (9.30pm)
Monday
Barcelona v Granada (12am)
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Poacher
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
