Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange appoints new chairman and board

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces has restructured the board of Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, appointing Khalid Al Muhairi as its chairman.

Sheikh Mohammed also named new board members of the bourse including Khalifa Al Mansour, Mohammed Al Qubaisi, Khalifa Al Qamzi and Ghannam Al Mazrouei, the state news agency WAM reported.

ADX, which is part of the MSCI emerging market index, is among the three main equities indexes in the UAE besides the Dubai Financial Market and Nasdaq Dubai.

The Arab world's second largest bourse by market capitalisation, is ready for an initial public offering if its stakeholders decide to sell a stake, its chief executive Rashed Al Baloushi told The National in Beijing earlier this month.

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“That’s the decision for the stakeholders ... once the decision is taken, that’s what’s [going to] make the big difference to the stock exchange,” he said.

The Abu Dhabi Government-owned ADX, with about Dh500 billion in market capitalisation, has yet to discuss the IPO at its board level, but it is ready and “on it” if the government decides to make it a public company, Mr Al Baloushi said at the time.

The exchange is courting a host of government entities and private sector companies for potential IPOs. The public float of Adnoc Distribution on ADX in December was the first for the exchange in more than six years. ADX, which has about 966,000 registered investors, 40 per cent of which are from outside the UAE, is targeting companies from four sectors: petrochemicals, health care, education and retail.

The exchange is expanding its offerings and services to add more investment options for investors. ADX last year launched technical short-selling services as part of efforts to boost liquidity and attract more foreign investors.

Earlier this month the ADX engaged Equichain, a UK-based FinTech company that provides blockchain technology for capital markets, to advise it on how to use new technologies to enhance the speed and security of capital market transactions.