FEAS Yearbook FEAS Yearbook 2009 | Page 6

FEDERATION OF EURO-ASIAN STOCK EXCHANGES ANNUAL REPORT APRIL 2009 FEDERATION OF EURO-ASIAN STOCK EXCHANGES HISTORY The Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges (FEAS) was established with its Head Quarters in Istanbul on 16 May 1995, with 12 founding members and has grown to 32 members and 7 affiliate members in 29 countries as a not-for profit organization. Membership in the Federation is open to security exchanges in Europe and Asia and Affiliate Membership is open to the Clearing and Settlement affiliates and Central Depositories of Member Stock Exchanges. Until May, 2011 Presidency and Vice Presidency positions will be held by the Istanbul Stock Exchange and Muscat Securities Market (starting from May 2009), respectively. The Governing Body of FEAS is the General Assembly, comprised of all 32 members plus 7 affiliate members, which meets once annually in a member country to discuss major issues concerning the operations of FEAS. The General Assembly (GA) decides upon changes in the Charter and by laws and approves FEAS' annual budget. The GA also approves the yearly activity plan, financial reports as well as the Independent Auditors' Report. 5-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN In accordance with the Mission Statement, 5- year Strategic Objectives are set up to systematically approach compliance with the long-term mission of the Federation. These objectives are: DEVELOPMENT AND MARKETING OF THE REGION Objective I: Promote good ‘corporate governance’ for listed companies as indicated in the joint FEAS/OECD “Best Practices for the Development of Stock Exchanges in Transition Economies” guide. Facilitate timely disclosure of material events to achieve transparency through effective dissemination of information. BILATERAL INITIATIVES PROGRAM The Federation supports a fully funded Bilateral visits Program to facilitate, on a bilateral basis, the reciprocate visits of personnel of FEAS members with each other for the purpose of exchange of, information and experience on specific topics of interest to both parties. Almost all Federation members have now participated in this program, which is planned to continue during 2009. During 2008 year to date, 13 bilateral visits were approved and 12 have been completed and one postponed. Objective II: Achieve convergence among FEAS members in their: • listing requirements, • trading rules and software; • the settlement cycle. Objective III: Promote mechanisms for reliable, transparent and uninterrupted securities trading and settlement. The Executive Committee, made up of 12 members, is responsible for the development of the Federation's policies, making major administrative decisions, as mandated by the General Assembly, approving the content and scope of tasks assigned to the Working Committee, and making recommendations to the General Assembly. Objective IV: Create greater awareness and visibility for the region’s securities and investment opportunities. PHILOSOPHY Objective VI: Help create linkages among the region’s: • intermediaries, • data providers, • settlement and custody institutions, • stock exchanges; and also • make efforts to initiate cooperation among Region’s Securities Commissions. MISSION STATEMENT The mission of FEAS is to create fair, efficient and transparent market environments, with little or no barriers to trade, within the operating regions of FEAS members. In order to facilitate the objectives of FEAS, members work toward the harmonization of rules and regulations and adoption of new technology, for trading and settlement. These actions further promote the development of the member markets and provide cross border trading opportunities for securities issued within FEAS member countries. Objective V: Help promote the listing of ‘investment grade’ securities in the respective Home markets of the Region. Objective VII: Promote and encourage research and training for FEAS members and their personnel. In order to achieve these objectives the following activities are planned and put into practice; CONTACT INFORMATION Contact Name Mr. Aril Seren, Secretary General FEAS region PAGE 4 E-mail [email protected] Website www.feas.org This section highlights the activities of the Task Forces during 2009 while providing a summary of continuing programs. WORKING COMMITTEE The activities of the Federation are organized and implemented through the Working Committee, as mandated by the Executive Committee. It is chaired by the Amman Stock Exchange. The Working Committee has assigned some of the tasks to be worked on by a number of Task Forces. (please see below) During the Working Committee Meeting that was held in Baku, Azerbaijan on May 14-15, 2008 reports were given by the task forces including Media, Regional Indices ,Corporate Governance, Affiliate Members and FEAS Data Center. Updates were also provided by the Secretariat on the status of the Semi Annual Report, Revenue and Expense Analysis, Bilateral visits, Draft Financial Report and the 2008 Calendar of Events. The second Working Committee meeting was held in November in Abu Dhabi, prior to the General Assembly where Mr. Nader Azar from the Amman Stock Exchange has been re-elected as the Working Committee Chair and Bucharest Stock Exchange has been appointed as the new leader for the Governance Task Force.