Bahrain Clear to launch operations
The plan to establish Bahrain Clear with a disclosed capital of BD5 million and a paid-up capital of BD1m was announced by BHB earlier this year.
A statement yesterday said the board of directors of Bahrain Clear is chaired by Abdulkareem Ahmed Bucheery, with Shaikh Khalifa bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa as the vice-chairman and Yasser Abdul Jalil Sharifi, Mohamed Khaled Hamed, Narjis Faroukh Jamal, and Mahmoud Abdulaziz Al Meer are board members.
Shaikh Khalifa, who is also chief executive of BHB, will assume additional responsibility of managing director of Bahrain Clear.
“This means the separation of duties and responsibilities of clearing, settlement and central depository services from the bourse, with Bahrain Clear becoming independently responsible for these duties administratively and technically,” he said.
“One of the main objectives of Bahrain Clear is to enhance and diversify post-trade services and keep pace with these services as applied in advanced markets to ensure the quality of these services and provide them to investors according to international standards.”
According to him, Bahrain Clear will contribute to enhancing the confidence of local and foreign investors in the investment climate and environment of capital markets in Bahrain.
It will also raise the rating of the sector by institutions that assess the investment climate in the country.
This in turn would encourage investors to inject more investments in order to seize the opportunities available at BHB as well as the various sectors of the national economy.
Bahrain Clear will undertake a range of activities, including establishment, management and operation of systems for the deposit, clearing and settlement of securities transactions and derivatives, managing shareholder records directly, in addition to custodian activities and providing all advisory and technical services in the field of depository, clearing and settlement.
It will also undertake the related services of transactions depository, clearing, settlement, central registry and registration.
Bahrain Clear will handle support for these activities including opening an investor number for individuals and companies with brokers, the deposit of listed and other companies’ securities, the conversion of securities between the brokers’ accounts, transfer of ownership of these securities, settlement and registration of ownership.
The company will also be responsible for pledging and freezing the shares of listed and non-listed companies, managing shareholders’ sharebook of the listed companies and registering members to the Central Depository System for the purpose of trading as well as providing securities services to the custodian.
In addition, Bahrain Clear will provide services of companies’ corporate actions including bonus shares, stocks split and stock mergers and acquisition in addition to increment and reduction of capital.
It will expand the services of the Central Registry to include the distribution of cash dividends directly to the bank accounts of shareholders in listed and other companies, and manage the meetings of general assemblies of listed companies, including e-voting.
The company will also undertake lending and borrowing in securities and short-selling and support services to margin trading.
It will provide mutual funds services that include information related to mutual funds, providing custodian services to Bahraini investors in other capital markets and exchanges, and allow Bahraini commercial banks to mediate for transactions execution on securities and financial instruments listed on BHB.
This will enhance the confidence and credibility of the Bourse among all parties involved in the market operations.
Mr Bucheery, who is also the chairman of BHB, said the establishment of Bahrain Clear is in line with the bourse’s strategic plan aimed at developing various aspects of work and providing services in accordance with international standards.
It will also enhance investors’ confidence in the components of this sector and its legislative, technical and technological structure, he added.
Source: http://www.gdnonline.com/Details/221382/Bahrain-Clear-to-launch-operations
