He explained that the Board of Governors of the Market agreed to transfer the records of 10 participating companies to the Iraqi Center for Deposit which will be responsible for maintaining the balances of shareholders of the shares and documenting sales and purchases so that they can conduct these two processes at the same session.
Abdul-Salam talked about the importance of electronic trading which will expedite the conclusion of contracts and recording them during a short period... As well as "activating the role of foreign investors in the sale and purchase of shares in the same session, which will result in profits for Iraqi investors and help them to the open new companies, and all this is for the development of Iraqi economy." He continued that the increase of circulation will increase the days of the opening of the Market from three days a week to five days.
With regard to the volume of foreign capital invested in ISX, Abdul-Salam pointed to its decline in the last period due to the instructions of the securities' body which obliges foreign investor to "transfer the funds to be invested in the Market through banks involved with their Iraqi counterparts, in addition to the ratification of these funds at the Iraqi embassy in the country of the investor; however, using electronic trading will reduce these obstacles which decrease the volume of foreign capital in the Iraqi Market."
According to Abdul-Salam, the market experts emphasized the increasing foreign capital early next year, pointing out the readiness of a number of international companies to trade in the Iraqi Market after starting the electronic trading.
ISX was founded on 18 April 2004, an economic market with financial and administrative independence which is administered by a council of nine members representing various segments of the economic sectors called the Board of Governors.
Abdul-Salam said, "The Market has joined the Agency of International Numbering in Germany to develop international figures for the participating companies." He pointed out that "the donor nations financed the Iraqi Market with seven billion dollars disbursed in the form of equipments and devices used by the staff of the Market."
Currently, ISX is still working according to law No. 74 issued by the civil administrator of Iraq, Paul Bremer, in April 2004. But a joint committee between the Market and the Securities' Body has been working for eight months to organize a draft law specified to the market and this committee was briefed on a number of laws in the capital markets of the region for use in drafting the new law for the Iraqi Market for Securities.
The law No. 74 issued by Bremer on 18 April 2004 provides the establishment of two institutions for the capital, namely: the Iraqi Market for Securities and the Iraqi Securities' Body. In accordance with the rules of procedure for the Stock Market, three sessions are held in a week: on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, during which the sale and purchase of shares of joint stock companies are done manually by professional intermediaries for these companies.
The circulation index of shareholding companies in the market are from 300 to more than one billion shares per day with a value hitting between 600 million iraqi dinars to more than three billion in a session, as indicated in the daily, weekly and monthly press published by the Market.(Source)ISX
