The Qatari bourse is being turned into a world-class international exchange in partnership with New York Stock Exchange’s Euronext (NYX). NYSE Euronext will have a 20 percent stake for $200m in ‘Qatar Exchange’ (QE), the name with which the Doha Securities Market (DSM) is to be known from tomorrow. This is the first time NYSE Euronext is making the largest investment in foreign exchange and having a presence in the Middle East. Qatar Holding (QH), a direct and strategic investment arm of the Qatari sovereign wealth fund, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), has retained 80 percent equity in QE. A board to be headed by H E Dr Khalid Al Attiyah, Minister of State for International Cooperation, and Acting Minister of Business and Trade, will manage QE. Ahmed Al Sayed, Managing Director and CEO of QH, will be the vice-chairman. NYX will also have representation on the board. QE’s CEO will be Andre Went, who has been NYSE Euronext’s Managing Director of its Amsterdam operations. The binding agreement was inked yesterday with officials hinting at big expansion plans being in the pipeline like debt market instruments such as bonds to be traded on QE. Present were H E Yousef Hussein Kamal, Minister of Finance and Economy, Dr Hussein Ali Al Abdullah, Executive Director of QIA, and Duncan Niederauer, CEO of NYSE Euronext, among others. Derivatives are to be traded at a future date with a strict regulatory mechanism being put in place. All staff members currently employed by the DSM are to be shifted to QE with existing employment rights and status. There will be no immediate changes to the existing market practices. Future changes are to be notified to investors in advance, officials said. Work will shortly commence on transitioning QE to NYSE Euronext’s next-generation trading technology. QE will be the first exchange outside of the NYSE NYX family to utilise universal trading platform (UTP). NYSE Euronext will provide services and technology to QE, and will take three of the 11 seats on the QE board. Six directors will be appointed by the QIA while two will be independent. QE will work with the regulators and market participants to diversify the products traded on the exchange and will continue to implement international standards. Commenting on the deal, Prime Minister, H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani, who also holds the foreign portfolio, said: “Today’s announcement paves the way for Qatar to play a prominent role in world capital markets for the benefit of both the people of Qatar and the Middle East in general. Our vision is to create a world-class financial centre around a global exchange that is on par with the deepest pools of capitals across Europe, USA and Asia.” http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=June2009&file=Local_News2009062014321.xml

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