RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: South Asian Federation of Exchanges (SAFE) - the only industry association of the stock exchanges in the South Asian region has announced the completion of first version of its Rule Book which details uniform model of regulations for adoption by all SAARC nations to financially integrate the region.

According to details issued by the SAFE Secretariat at Islamabad here on Tuesday, the Rule Book was shared with the financial players of South Asian region by SAFE during the First Multi Stakeholders’ Advocacy Moot, held at Trident Nariman Point, Mumbai India.

Sharing information received at the SAFE Secretariat, SAFE said that Rajeev Kumar Agarwal, Whole-Time Member, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) graced the occasion as eminent chief guest along with Mr. Amrit Lugun, Director India (ETF) South Asian Association for Regional Corporation (SAARC) as guest of honor.

Joseph Massey, Chairman SAFE, in his speech, emphasized on the need to increase cross boarder financial activities within the South Asian region to create strong intraregional links and an integrated economic region. He was of the view that SAFE’s project on developing a harmonized regulatory framework shall serve as a first step towards building a financially integrated South Asian region, SAFE said.

Aftab Ahmad Ch., Secretary General SAFE during the welcome speech elaborated on the regulatory model prepared by SAFE to financially integrate the region. “The proposed regulations are related to market operations, market integrity, enforcement regulations and all SAFE members in Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh and Nepal shall be encouraged to adopt provisions of this Rule Book, if applicable, to promote market integrity, efficiency and transparency”, SAFE stated.

SAFE’s prime consultant Mr. Nabeel Zubair appraised the participants in detail about the project and explained that the objectives of the moot was to hold effective dialogue and discussion with the regulatory representatives of each South Asian country, SAARC director and financial fraternity of the region on the draft SAFE Rule Book. Later, the meeting opened for discussion and consensus on the subject matter and ways to alleviate the road blocks envisaged for the adoption of the proposed regulatory recommendations to bring about regional financial integration in South Asia.

Lastly, Mr. Aftab thanked the U.S. Government for its assistance, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), to work towards securing a self-sustaining economic future of Pakistan and SAARC nations by nurturing more efficient economic environment. “We believe that SAFE’s project shall serve as a landmark initiative to achieve economic growth, not only in Pakistan, but all across the South Asian region”, he said.

The concept for this project, entitled, “Regional Financial Integration – Developing a Harmonized Regulatory Framework for the Capital Markets in Pakistan & South Asia”, has been developed under the specific needs identified by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Secretariat of facilitating regional financial integration. The objectives of the project are to develop harmonized market regulations for the capital markets; to standardize self regulatory framework for the management and the operations of the markets in the region; to enhance market integrity and investor confidence; to introduce consistent and common reporting standards; to improve the governance and transparency norms for the listed sector; to facilitate easy capital raising on regional basis and the promotion of cross border listings; to deepen and broaden the region’s securities markets; to assist in, relatively, free movement of capital and portfolio investments; and to promote the greater integration of the South Asian capital and financial markets.

SAFE is a cooperative platform launched by the bourses in South Asia with a purpose to promote the development and harmonization of the securities markets in the region. SAFE is a non- profit association having Recognized Body status of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), and is a network exchange association of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE). The operations, activities, and the programs of Federation are primarily funded by its member exchanges, while some specific projects get sponsorships from some multilateral donor/development agencies. As of January 2013, SAFE comprises of thirty four (34) member entities from the SAARC Region (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) as well as from Kazakhstan, Mauritius and UAE, SAFE added.