T-Bills to be Traded on QE

Doha, December 26 (QNA)- Qatar Exchange on Monday announced full operational and regulatory readiness to launch the debt instruments market starting with the admission of the Qatari Government short term Treasury Bills to trade on the exchange starting Dec, 29,2011. Deputy CEO of QE Rashid Bin Ali Al Mansoori stated that the QE management has received the approval of Qatar Financial Markets Authority to launch the Debt Instruments Market and has received from Qatar Central Bank a list of T-Bills that will be listed for trading as of the 29th of December. Al Mansoori referred to a statement by H.E Sheik Abdulla Bin Saud Al Thani, Governor of QCB published on the website of QCB in which he announced the start of listing short term T-Bills on the QE starting on the 29th of December as a first step to launch the Secondary Market trading for bonds on Qatar Exchange providing the diversification of investment instruments in the Qatari Market. The listing of the short term T-Bills on QE is expected to attract the attention of banks, financial institutions as well as investors, and the listing of Government Bonds and the presence of a bond market will encourage companies to issue and list bonds as another alternative for financing and ultimately contribute to increasing liquidity in the market. It is worth to mention that Qatar Exchange was established in 1995, the Doha Securities Market (DSM) officially commenced operations in May 1997. Since then the exchange has grown to become one of the leading stock markets in the GCC region. Following a strategic partnership agreement between Qatar Holding and NYSE Euronext in June 2009, the DSM was renamed the Qatar Exchange (QE). QE currently has 42 listed companies and its market capitalization (end of 2010) is around QR450 billion (US$124 billion). The primary aim of QE is to support Qatar s economy by giving investors a platform through which they can trade fairly and efficiently. QE also provides the public with access to market information, ensures correct disclosure of information, and enforces securities regulations. QE is regulated by the Qatar Financial Markets Authority. (QNA)