“The thing with regulation”, muses Healy, “is that
you could spend 90% of your time, getting the last
10% of the legislation right. For a market at this level
of development, the incoming regulatory legislation
is sufficient.” The CE is bullish about the potential of
the 67 listed companies that comprise the exchange
and cites the fact that the domestic companies listed,
focus in the main on the domestic market, as a reason
for optimism.
Abu Dhabi Vision 2030
Abu Dhabi is currently in the process of introducing
new corporate governance legislation in order to
regulate the relatively new capital market in a fashion
more in line with international best practice. Despite
the fact that some quarters insist that the regulatory
environment is not stringent enough, Healy is of
the view that the incoming corporate governance
legislation is adequate for a market of Abu Dhabi’s
current state of maturity.
At the same time as the currently undersized
debt market evolves, it will be bolstered by new
support structures such as rating agencies and
secondary markets for liquidity. Such initiatives
will bring a new degree of depth to the market that
will encourage future growth and bring increased
efficiency.
Over the long term, one of the central themes of
the financial side of Vision 2030, is for Abu Dhabi
to become an issuer of bonds. “This is a major
differentiation that has to be pointed out to the
international community. Right now, Abu Dhabi
acts primarily as an international investor through
ADIA and the various sovereign wealth funds. It will
continue to act as an investor in utilising oil receipts,
however, it will also soon introduce a new dynamic by
becoming an issuer of bonds.” asserts Healy.
“It’s quite an unusual situation when you have large
companies that are focused mainly on quite a small
domestic market. It is a testament to the liquidity
that is in the market as a result of the petro-reserves.
When these enterprises turn their attention outward,
as many are starting to do, the results could be very
promising. Our job is to get this message to the
people who advise investors and potential investors.”
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