The increase in the value of sukuk investments held for safekeeping in NASDAQ Dubai's custody holdings, which are maintained in the exchange’s Central Securities Depository (CSD), reflects the wide range and competitive pricing of the CSD’s services to participants.
As well as custody, these include settlement of over the counter cross-border transfers and processing of corporate actions, such as interest and profit payments and redemption. NASDAQ Dubai is the only exchange in the Middle East that has direct access to the international central securities depositaries (ICSDs) Euroclear and Clearstream. These links provide an easy transaction process between the ICSDs and the NASDAQ Dubai CSD for international and regional investors.
Craig Hewett, head of business development at NASDAQ Dubai, explains that: “Our CSD provides Sukuk investors with an international best practice depository structure for settlement, asset-servicing and safekeeping. We look forward to hosting more Sukuk investors on the NASDAQ Dubai CSD as we expand our Sukuk market.”
NASDAQ Dubai is the largest exchange for sukuk in the Middle East by listed value, with 15 Sukuk with a nominal value of $10.5bn. Equities traded value reaches $36m. The value of shares traded on NASDAQ Dubai in November 2011 reached $36m, down 42% from $69m in October 2011, a trend in line with regional exchanges.
The value traded in November 2010 was $97m. Individual investors accounted for 5.8% of the traded value of all shares traded on NASDAQ Dubai in the first 11 months of 2011. Total equities traded value in that period by individual and institutional investors was $646m.
NASDAQ Dubai started routing all its equities trades through the trading platform of Dubai Financial Market (DFM) in July 2010, in order to facilitate access by individual investors. Individual investors accounted for 2.7% of equities traded value in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Jeff Singer, chief executive of NASDAQ Dubai, notes that: “In a challenging period for the UAE’s capital markets, in which trading values across its stock exchanges have declined, NASDAQ Dubai continues to strengthen its infrastructure and prepare for new product listings. Institutional liquidity combined with an active retail base will put NASDAQ Dubai in a strong position to attract further initial public offerings as market confidence recovers.”
