Emirates News Agency – UAE Financial Markets Association signs partnership with International Capital Market Association

DUBAI, 26th October 2022 (WAM) — The UAE Financial Markets Association (UAE FMA) has signed a cooperation agreement with the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) to strengthen their cooperation and mutual membership, as well as to exchange expertise and information on regulatory developments and international best practices in the financial markets sector.

Under the newly signed agreement, both parties will coordinate their efforts to design educational programs, produce analytical reports for the financial markets, read advanced data and explore ways to improve automated trading technology.

They will also collaborate on effective trading practices, clearing and settlement procedures, and will also work together to share their expertise and experience, with the ICMA informing the other of their global financial market experiences.

Mohammed Al Hashemi, Chairman of the UAE FMA, and Bryan Pascoe, CEO of ICMA, signed the agreement in the presence of a number of senior officials from both sides.

Al Hashemi expressed his delight at the promising partnership, stressing that the agreement is in line with the UAE FMA’s ambition to expand its network of influential strategic partners with extensive experience in global financial markets, adding that this will help the members of the association to gain new experiences and will equip them with the skills and knowledge they need to do business in the global financial markets, while expanding the scope of investment opportunities for both parties.

Al Hashemi said the agreement will have a positive impact on promoting local investment opportunities and attracting more foreign capital thanks to the association’s crucial role in providing partners with a thorough and integrated view of the capital markets in the GCC countries and such expand their activities in cross-border countries. Frontier markets and expanding the scope of work beyond local markets.

Bryan Pascoe, on the other hand, emphasized that the UAE is one of the best destinations for capital that wants to invest in its various sectors, especially in the financial markets, since it now offers a safe haven for all types of investments, as evidenced by increasing growth in various Industry sectors. “The agreement will undoubtedly help to strengthen the ICMA’s relationship with the UAE FMA and expand the boundaries of mutual collaboration to create investment opportunities and bring about greater qualitative leaps in regional financial markets,” Pascoe said.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the FMA of the UAE hosted a conference entitled “Dynamics and Developments in International Repo Markets-A Lens on the Middle East and North Africa” in the presence of the International Capital Markets Association.

The conference included a series of interactive panel discussions with local market stakeholders who discussed opportunities and challenges faced by repo and guarantee transactions in the global financial market and related opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa.

Other focal points of the conference were topics such as market practice and regulatory policy, automation, digitization and legal technology in the financial market sector.