2 / 13
2
Issue 15 - MARCH 2018
www.bahrainbourse.comBAHRAIN BOURSE CLOSES 2017 WITH 2
nd
BEST PERFORMANCE
ACROSS GCC MARKETS (CONTINUED)
In terms of operational budgets,
and in the spirit of reducing over-
head costs, the Bourse was able
to reduce General & Adminis-
trative costs without any impact
on the Bourse’s main operations.
Bahrain Bourse – A Cohesive
Capital Market Eco-system
This year also marks inauguration
of Bahrain Clear as a subsidiary
of Bahrain Bourse with an au-
thorized capital of BD 5 million
and paid-up capital of BD1 mil-
lion to operate as a fully-fledged
clearing house for the region,
launched Bahrain Trade an on-
line trading platform powered by
licensed brokers with KHCB join-
ing as the first participating bank.
To cap an eventful year, 2 bonds/
sukuk were listed bringing the total
up to 13 with a total value of US$
6.084 billion, and 41 listed T-bills
with a total value of BD 2.6 billion.
All of these initiatives highlight the
strength and diversity of Bahrain
Bourse’s capabilities, it also reiter-
ates the Bahrain Bourse’s deeper
involvement in developing a co-
hesive capital market ecosystem.
On the regulatory front, Bahrain
Bourse achieved two key mile-
stones, obtaining approval from
the Central Bank of Bahrain on
the Market Making Rules. This
regulatory advancement has en-
abled Bahrain Bourse to license
Mubasher to commence their
market making services to their
respective clients. On the tech-
nological front, Bahrain Bourse’s
trading platform has undergone
a major upgrade of its X-stream
trading system to meet the needs of
capital market participants in gen-
eral, and the investors in particu-
lar. In addition, Bahrain Bourse’s
e-services have been launched on
Bahrain eGovernment portal to
all investors and stakeholders, al-
lowing registered investors to view
their investment portfolios and
details of their securities’ transac-
tions in a timely and easy manner.
In terms of its corporate social
responsibility initiatives, Bahrain
Bourse recently kicked-off its 20th
year of the Tradequest program for
schools that aim at raising invest-
ment awareness among high school
and university students. Over the
years, Bahrain Bourse has trained
under the TradeQuest program
more than 1,300 students across
18 schools and 5 universities cov-
ering both private and government
educational institutions across the
Kingdom. In addition, Bahrain
Bourse in collaboration with Bah-
rain Institute of Banking and Fi-
nance (BIBF) officially launched
“The Investment Academy” that
aims at offering technical market
know-how targeted towards begin-
ner, intermediate, and professional
investors to enhance their capital
markets knowledge with innova-
tive teaching methods and tech-
nologies. The Academy also offers
public awareness sessions, profes-
sional certifications as well as key
trending topics in capital markets.
Bahrain Bourse has also signed a
cooperation agreement with the
Ministry of Education that aims
at enhancing joint cooperation
between Bahrain Bourse and the
Ministry of Education in areas
related to spreading investment
awareness among students such as
the launch of a new initiative called
the Smart Investor Program. The
Smart Investor is an awareness pro-
gram targeted towards elementary
and secondary school students
with the objective of introducing
the concept of saving & investment
among students by using various
tools to emphasize the importance
of the concept to them as individ-
uals, their families, and their coun-
try in a very simple module that
suits their respective age group.
N e w p r o d u c t s a n d
ser vices in the pipeline
In 2018, Bahrain Bourse plans will
be focused on introducing a num-
ber of innovative products and ser-
vices including new-post services
for Bahrain Clear, inclusion of
more financial institutions in the
Bahrain Trade Network, Kick-off
of the Smart Investor Program,
and issuance of new Listing Rules.
Bahrain Bourse will also fully
undertake its role as a Self-Reg-
ulatory Organization (SRO)
during the first quarter of 2018.