FEAS Yearbook FEAS Yearbook 2014 | Page 26

FEDERATION OF EURO-ASIAN STOCK EXCHANGES ANNUAL REPORT JUNE 2013 BAKU STOCK EXCHANGE 2013 has been a positive year in terms of the trading volumes and development in the corporate sector. Fariz Azizov Chairman 2013 has been a positive year in terms of the trading volumes and development in the corporate sector. the BSE has ended the last year with 11 bn 467 mln USD. of total turnover which is only 400 mln USD less than the record high registered in 2008. The big portion of the BSE’s turnover is comprised of the deals on the government securities market, nevertheless, understanding the role of the stock exchange as a barometer of the whole economy, thoughout the year we have been continusly in touch with the local business sector educating them about the opportunities and benefits of the capital market and revealing their needs that might be addressed via the stock exchange. But, as mentioned, this is an ongoing process, especially in such young economies as ours, and the BSE will continue its marketing efforts aiming to raise the share of the corporate sector in the composition of the Azerbaijani capital market. The year of 2013 was symbolical with the implementation of the Capital Market Modernization Project funded by the government of Azerbaijan, World Bank and State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland (SECO) and managed by the State Committee for Securities of Azerbaijan Republic. The main objective of this 3-year project is to increase the use of equity and HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT After gaining it’s independence, and embedding property and ownership rights in the overall legal system, Azerbaijan made it first step toward developing the capital markets by adopting the Law on “Securities market and stock exchanges” on 24 November 1992. On January 13 of 1995 the Law on “Investment activity” became effective. On September 29 of 1995 the government adopted the first State Privatization Program for the next three years which paved the way for the establishment of the necessary capital market institutions. As a result, by the end of 1998 28 thousand small organizations and more than 800 medium and large enterprises were successfully privatized. PAGE 26 corporate debt as financing and/or investment instruments through the adoption of an effective capital markets regulatory framework and infrastructure. As one of the beneficiaries of the Project and with the combination of the joint efforts, we expect the first quintuple of national companies to come to listing on the BSE within the following 1.5-2 years. by the stock exchange. We will implementing Listing Advisory Program aimed at increasing the demand for investment capital and/ or supply of investment opportunities and securities on the Baku Stock Exchange. The goal is to increase significantly the trading volumes with the corporate securities within the next 3 years Concluding the above said, we can stress that 2013 will be the year of marketing and sales for the stock exchange, nevertheless we will continue our research on other priorities such as establishment of data vending, modernization of IT and operational capacities and improvement of internal corporate structure and personnel skills. Although the BSE exchange itself is relatively new in comparison to stock markets in the developing world, it has experienced quite a degree of sustained growth since its establishment. Baku Stock Exchange is taking a breakthrough step towards the aim of developing capital markets in Azerbaijan by introducing new trading systems and setting better standards. We are working on a number of important projects like conducting trade of foreign securities in our country, and bringing new products such as ETF class of assets etc. In this regard, 2014 is connected with our high expectations. We have started to implement Listing Advisory Programme which is helping companies to raise capital through issuing shares and bonds. It is also encouraging to note that the preparation process to hold the first IPO - Initial Public Offering on the Baku Stock Exchange is also underway. 2012 has been the second highly performing year in terms of trading volumes in the history of the Baku Stock Exchange since its inception in 2000. After a very successful year in 2011, the BSE was able to achieve another 7% increase in total volume of the transactions in 2012. We have been continuously in touch with the local business about the opportunities and benefits of the capital market and developing efficient funding platform for their investments. Concluding the all above, I have to emphasize that 2013 will be the year of active sales efforts With best regards, The need for proper regulation of the capital markets paved the way for the establishment of the State Committee for Securities (SCS) under auspices of the President of Republic of Azerbaijan on December 30, 1998. The vital part of the capital markets development was establishment of the Baku Stock Exchange (BSE) with the help of local and international financial organizations most of which became the shareholders of the company. The first securities to trade on the organized stock exchange were treasury bills which were issued by the Ministry of Finance. The first placement of the stocks and corporate bonds in the organized stock exchange was in 2003 and 2004 respectively. Since 2004 trading in treasury bills has grown 7.9 times, trading in central bank notes has grown 9.4 times, trading in corporate bonds has grown 52.2 times, and trading in stocks has grown by 20.8 times at the end of 2013. Currently Closed Joint Stock Company “Baku Stock Exchange” has 20 shareholders. Throughout the period since inception, the BSE has managed to establish a well-organized securities trading platform effectively linked with other market participants.