10
Issue 12 - JUNE 2017
www.bahrainbourse.comTHE CENTRAL BANK OF BAHRAIN LICENSES BAHRAIN CLEAR (CONTINUED)
Mr. Bucheery said that the com-
mencement of Bahrain Clear,
which is expected to be announced
in the coming weeks, will be a re-
markable event in the history of
the Capital Market sector in the
Kingdom of Bahrain as it is an
indication of enhancing the com-
petitiveness of the capital sector
in attracting more investments.
It will also reflect enhancing the
investors’ confidence in the com-
ponents of this sector and its leg-
islative, technical and technological
structure. Mr. Bucheery confirmed
that Bahrain Clear will enhance the
quality and quantity of services
provided by the company, and will
provide the flexibility required to
meet the expectations and needs
of the company’s clients including
issuers of securities, investors, in-
stitutions, custodians and others.
Khalifa Bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa,
Chief Executive Officer of Bah-
rain Bourse and the Managing
Director of Bahrain Clear, said
that the establishment of Bahrain
Clear Company practically means
the end of separation of duties
and responsibilities of clearing,
settlement and central depository
services from the Bourse, where
Bahrain Clear will now be inde-
pendently responsible for these
duties administratively and tech-
nically. This means that Bahrain
Clear will be able to develop ex-
isting services and provide other
services to the company’s clients in
accordance with the international
standards adopted in this field.
Shaikh Khalifa confirmed that one
of the main objectives of Bahrain
Clear is to enhance and diversify
the post trade services and keep
pace with these services as applied
in the advanced markets to en-
sure the quality of these services
and provide them to investors
according to international stan-
dards. Shaikh Khalifa added that
the presence of the Bahrain Clear
will contribute in enhancing the
confidence of local and foreign
investors in the investment climate
and environment of the capital sec-
tor in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Sheikh Khalifa also indicated that
the establishment of Bahrain Clear
will raise the rating of the capital
sector in the Kingdom by the rat-
ing institutions concerned with as-
sessing the investment climate in
the countries. This is expected to
encourage investors to inject more
investments in order to seize the
opportunities available in Bah-
rain Bourse as well as the various
sectors of the national economy.
Shaikh Khalifa explained that Bah-
rain Clear will undertake a range of
activities, including the establish-
ment, management and operation
of systems for the deposit, clearing
and settlement of securities trans-
actions and derivatives, managing
shareholder records directly, in
addition to custodian activities
and providing all advisory and
technical services in the field of de-
pository, clearing and settlement.
Bahrain Clear will also undertake
the related services of transactions
depository, clearing, settlement,
central registry and registration.
In addition, Bahrain Clear will
handle the support for these ac-
tivities including opening an in-
vestor number for individuals
and companies with brokers, the
deposit of listed and other com-
panies’ securities, the conversion
of securities between the brokers’
accounts, transfer of ownership
of these securities, settlement
and registration of ownership.
Sheikh Khalifa also pointed out
that the Bahrain Clear will be re-
sponsible of pledging and freezing
the shares of listed and non-listed
companies, managing the share-
holders sharebook of the listed
companies and registering mem-
bers to the Central Depository
System for the purpose of trading
as well as providing securities ser-
vices to the custodian. In addi-
tion, Bahrain Clear will provide
services of companies’ corporate
actions including bonus shares,
stocks split and stock mergers
and acquisition in addition to in-
crement and reduction of capital.
CEO of Bahrain Bourse also add-
ed that Bahrain Clear will expand
the services of the Central Reg-
istry 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. Bahrain Clear
will also undertake lending and
borrowing in securities and short
selling and support services to the
margin trading service. Bahrain
Clear services will also include
providing mutual funds services
that include information related
to mutual funds, providing cus-
todian services to Bahraini inves-
tors in other Capital Markets and
exchanges, and allowing Bahraini
commercial banks to mediate for
transactions execution on securi-
ties and financial instruments list-
ed on the Bourse. This will enhance
the confidence and credibility of
the Bourse among all parties in-
volved in the market operations.
It is worth mentioning that Bah-
rain Clear is a fully owned sub-
sidiary of Bahrain Bourse with
a disclosed capital of 5 million
Dinars, and a paid up capital of 1
million Dinars. The Board of Di-
rectors of Bahrain Clear is head-
ed by Mr. Abdulkareem Ahmed
Bucheery, whereas Shaikh Khalifa
Bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa is the Vice
Chiarman and Mr. Yasser Abdul
Jalil Sharifi, Mr. Mohamed Khaled
Hamed, Ms. Narjis Faroukh Jamal,
and Mr. Mahmoud Abdulaziz
Al Meer are board members.