FEDERATION OF EURO-ASIAN STOCK EXCHANGES
ANNUAL REPORT JUNE 2013
PALESTINE EXCHANGE
2014 is Palestine’s “Threshold Year”
Ahmad Aweidah
CEO
The year 2013 witnessed many remarkable
developments at the Palestine Exchange
(PEX). These developments resulted from the
progress the PEX has achieved in the past few
years in its regulatory environment as well as
robustness overcoming various challenges.
MSCI announced in June 2013 that it created
a Stand Alone Country Index for Palestine for
potential inclusion in its MSCI Frontier Index.
This was followed by the S&P Dow Jones
announcement in December 2013 that it has
added coverage of Palestine to its suite of
frontier market indices, a critical step forward
for potential inclusion in the S&P frontier market
index. The FTSE Indices have also informed
the PEX that in 2014, it will be reviewing the
eligibility of including Palestine as a Frontier
market within the FTSE Country Classification
Scheme. It is anticipated that the Palestine
Capital Market Authority (PCMA) will be given a full membership of IOSCO in February
2014, reinforcing confidence in the efficiency
and safety of transactions in Palestine. The
robustness and transparency of regulation has
been a defining characteristic of the PEX over
the past 17 years. These series of important
breakthroughs should lead the PEX to growth
in 2014.
HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT Accomplishments 2013 • 1995: Established as a private shareholding
company to promote investment in Palestine.
• 1997: First trading session (18 February).
• 2005: The Al-Quds Index had increased
by 306% compared to 2004, recording the
highest amongst the world Stock Exchanges.
• 2006: Launch of the Investor Education
Program.
• 2007: Launch of E-Trade Service.
• 2008: Ranked 33rd amongst International
Stock Exchanges and second in the region
in terms of investor protection.
• 2010: Public Shareholding Company... New
Corporate Identity.
• 2011: Listed a record seven new companies
in one year.
• 2012: Listed Company.
• 2013:
- - June: MSCI created a stand alone index
for Palestine.
- - November: The highest trading value in
one session of 48.5m USD.
- - December: S&P created a stand alone
index for Palestine. International accomplishments
• June 2013: Morgan Stanly International
Capital (MSCI) announced that Palestine
has been added to the list of Standalone
countries of MSCI.
• December 2013: Standard & Poors Dow
Jones Launched a Stand Alone County Index
for Palestine.
• The CDS at the PEX obtained a full
membership at the Association of National
Numbering Agencies (ANNA).
• The CDS at the PEX obtained the privilege
from the Association of National Numbering
Agencies (ANNA) to be a PRE-LOU (Local
Operating Unit). Developments on the operational level
• The PEX signed an agreement with the
Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA) where
cash settlement of trading transactions will
be executed via the PMA as of March 2013.
Accordingly, the Clearing Depository and
Settlement Department (CDS) of the PEX
has become an indirect member of the Real
Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system at the
Palestine Monetary Authority.
• Issued new listing regulations where listed
companies are classified between two
markets; primary and secondary.
• Increased the continuous trading hours at
the PEX to be 3 hours from 10:00-13:00.
FUTURE OUTLOOK
• The PEX seeks to develop Palestine’s
capital market and to enhance its qualitative
presence amongst its regional and
international peers. We aim to:
• Strengthen market governance in keeping
with best practice.
• Increase Market depth and expand the
investor base.
• Including the PEX in the MENA frontier
market indices such as those provided by
MSCI, S&P and FTSE.
• Diversify sources of income with a focus on
post trade services.
• Obtain full membership of the World
Federation of Exchanges (WFE).
• Promote the development of effective, best
practices for corporate governance and
investor relations in Palestinian companies.
New listing in 2013
Company
Dar Al-Shifa’ Pharmaceuticals
Date of listing Date of first
23/04/2013
17/06/2013
Symbol
PHARMACARE
Sector
Industry
49 companies are listed on the PEX by the end of 2013
Sector
No. of listed companies
Banking & Financial Services
9
Insurance
7
Investment
8
Industry
12
Services
13
Total Market Cap (as at 31/12/2013)
Market Cap.
(USD millions)
857.3
101.1
496.2
276.4
1,516.5
3,247.5
Trading Activity (as at 31 Dec. 2013)
Trading Volume (Shares)
Trading Value ($)
Number of Transactions
Market Cap. ($)
Al-Quds Index- Open (02/01/2013)
Al-Quds Index- Close (31/12/2013)
Al-Quds Index- Change %
202,965,939
340,774,268.82
44,425
3,247,478,385
477.59
541.45
% 13.37
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