AFE Equities Summit was organized by the Arab Federation of Exchanges, in partnership with Thomson Reuters, Bahrain Bourse and Wavetec; the Summit was held parallel to the AFE Board Meeting and General Assembly, and attracted Arab Stock Exchanges, Clearing, Settlement and Depository Companies, regulatory authorities, brokerage firms, and investment fund managers.

The 2015 summit which brought together key officials of Arab stock exchanges and Capital market experts took place at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Manama – Kingdom of Bahrain.

During the event Rasheed Mohammed Al Maraj, Governor, Central Bank of Bahrain quoted “MENA capital markets continue to build and enhance liquidity, depth and diversification in terms of investment instruments, listings and capital flow at the regional and international levels. Market operators must pursue opportunities to enhance the position and competitiveness of the capital market not just domestically but also globally.”

CEO, Bahrain Bourse, Shaikh Khalifa Ebrahim Al Khalifa, found the opportunity at the event to announce the launch of the Islamic real estate investment trusts (REITs) on Bahrain Bourse; Shaikh also discussed his plans with the audience to launch the Bahrain Investment Market to bridge the financing channels for small and growing businesses at the end of second quarter of 2015.

Meyer Sandy Frucher, Vice Chairman, NASDAQ, who was a part of the Global trends panel, stated “Business is becoming globalised and regulators have to strengthen themselves by offering unique products and influencing investors in order to achieve growth and creativity across capital markets. We also need to lift up the level of information available to regulators and facilitate regulator education.”

The highlight of the event was Wavetec’s dynamic LED video wall that displayed the performance of 18 different Stock exchanges which are members of Arab Federation of Exchanges, while streaming breaking news from Thomson Reuters. The video wall epitomized the evolution of stock exchanges over time, and emphasized how financial markets can use advanced technology for transparency, and real-time data dissemination to aid decision makers of the financial sphere.

Wavetec is a global, leading Technology Company which has installed its flagship LED product range at 25 global financial markets that include major financial markets such as Bahrain Stock Exchange, Mexico Stock Exchange, Santiago de Chile Exchange, Muscat Security Market, Madrid Exchange, Dubai Financial Market, and Saudi Stock Exchange.

Tobias Bessone, General Manager Wavetec FZCO stated “The Conference provided an amazing platform to exchange experiences and ideas with key players of Middle East’s financial markets, and accentuate Wavetec’s top of the line product portfolio to emphasize how financial institutions can enhance their visibility and engage their stakeholders with sophisticated technology for displaying real-time sensitive data.”

This year, the Summit turned into a grander event, as it encompassed all stakeholders from the Equities Field, and hosted world-class speakers and panelists, on a regional and international level, providing significant and interactive content and addressing the important issues within the Equities sphere for all stakeholders involved. The discussions revolved around global trends in the Arab and global exchange markets; opening the Saudi market and the underlying implications; Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), Tracker Funds and market making; direct market access, new technologies and market protection, among others.