Cairo – Mubasher: The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) plans to introduce amendments to the Capital Market Law to allow transforming the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) into a joint-stock company in preparation for its initial public offering (IPO).
The second edition of the National Narrative for Economic Development rolled out the decision as part of broader government efforts to widen the capital market and expand the privatization program.
Such a move is expected to boost the efficiency and competitiveness of the EGX by improving governance and transparency and adopting a private-sector approach to management.
The report noted that 70% of the world's stock exchanges are structured as publicly traded companies, according to data from the World Federation of Exchanges.
The vast majority of these are listed and publicly traded, including, for example, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Nasdaq, the Japan Exchange Group, and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX).
Regionally, the UAE has the Dubai Financial Market (DFM), established in 2000 and transformed into a publicly traded company in 2006. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has Tadawul.
Likewise, Kuwait's stock exchange was established as a government institution in 1977 and transformed into a publicly traded company in 2016, subsequently being listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange.
