Egypt’s Market Watchdog Ratifies Regulations of ETFs, Margin Trading

Egypt’s market watchdog ratified on Wednesday the regulations governing the exchange-traded funds (ETFs) alongside the margin trading.

The board of market watchdog Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) discussed on Wednesday a number of key topics, mainly regulations of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), market makers, in addition to issuing decisions required for margin trading.

EFSA Chairman Sherif Samy said the regulator approved the rules regulating ETFs and market makers, and stipulated EFSA’s approval on the methodology adopted in the preparation of the exchange-traded fund, except for ETFs issued by the Egyptian Exchange (EGX).

The market regulator also stipulated that there must not be a relation between the issuing party and the investment manager or the market maker.

The top official also indicated that, in light of the recent amendments to the Capital Market Bylaw that reduced the minimum limit for approving a securities company to carry out margin trading to EGP 4 million as net equity from EGP 15 million as minimum limit for capital, EFSA board set the percentage of the client debts at which the company can make a claim for reduction.

Exchange traded funds serve as open investment funds which follow the movement of specific indicators, listing and trading their supplementary documents on the stock market as shares and bonds. They allow investors to gain a broad exposure to entire stock markets of different countries and specific sectors with relative ease, on a real-time basis and at a lower cost than many other forms of investing.