The product of more than a year's work by 12 brokerage firms and banks that jointly own it, the bourse only has 15 listed companies with about 100 more due to go public in the coming months. These firms have an automatic right to float as they were part of the former exchange, dissolved after the US-led invasion of Iraq last March, but there are also new companies clamoring for a piece of the action. "Other firms want to list and we are considering them," said Tabatabaie, who owns a brokerage company with a major stake in the exchange.
In contrast to the grand plans, the new bourse has kept an extremely low profile for fear of being targeted in a wave of attacks against any perceived by-products of the US-led occupation. In reality, outside help was minimal to create the modest but modern trading house with its neatly arranged computer terminals, open floor for trades and white boards to track the share price of different companies.
About 50 of the 55 staff who run the exchange are women - a rare ratio in the West but no big surprise in Iraq where women typically entered the finance industry under the previous Saddam Hussein regime because men were off fighting wars, the manager of the trading department, Jammy Afham, said. "This stock exchange is going to help the Iraqi economy recover because it encourages people to invest money. I was surprised by the level of interest on our first day and hope this will continue," she said.
In its first morning of business on June 24, more than 500 million shares were traded - more than the Baghdad Stock Exchange ever achieved - and the volume is expected to keep on rising, the chief executive said. "It is just like anywhere else in the world, people want to buy and sell shares," Taha said when asked to explain the reason for the strong demand in a country that has been ravaged by decades of war and sanctions. "We want to open up to foreign companies and hopefully this will happen in the next couple of months," Taha said.
"We also plan to upgrade to an automated system in the next half-year." In addition, the 38 brokerage firms and 12 banks that work the exchange are learning how to use trading units other than shares - the single instrument on the old exchange - such as bonds and swaps, Taha added.
For the time being, only brokers are allowed to make trades on behalf of clients because the owners felt a room full of traders would be too dangerous in the current security climate. But once the automated system is up and running, they noted, absolutely anyone will be able to participate.
Source: The Daily Star
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