ADQ appoints new chairman and managing director of Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange

Hisham Malak and Saeed Al Dhaheri's appointments announced on Friday

ADX is part of ADQ, one of the region’s largest holding companies with a broad portfolio of major enterprises spanning key sectors of Abu Dhabi’s economy. Ravindranath K / The National

Abu Dhabi’s holding company ADQ appointed Hisham Malak as the new chairman of Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), the company said on Friday.

Mr Malak also serves as the undersecretary of the Department of Finance, according to a statement from ADQ.

Saeed Al Dhaheri, the current chief executive of ADX, will be the new managing director of the bourse, the statement said.

ADX, which is part of ADQ, is the second-biggest bourse in the Arab world after Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul Stock Exchange with a total market capitalisation of $1.48 trillion. The stock market has rallied more than 60 per cent in the past 12 months on the back of initial public offerings, rising foreign investment and higher oil prices.

In October, Fertiglobe, the world’s largest seaborne exporter of urea and ammonia combined, raised about $795 million from its listing on the ADX. That offering followed Adnoc Drilling, which garnered $1.1bn from its listing in the same month. In July, Al Yah Satellite Communications, better known as Yahsat, a unit of Mubadala Investment Company, raised about $730m through its listing.

The stock market also introduced a number of other new initiatives to make it attractive for investors. In November, it launched a derivatives market that will allow trading in single-stock futures as part of the bourse's strategy to develop the emirate's capital markets and bring its products and services in line with global peers.

It also waived the minimum commission fee on the trading of all listed securities to boost trading by smaller investors.

The stock market is expected to further develop as Abu Dhabi plans to launch a Dh5bn ($1.3bn) IPO fund to help encourage and support private companies to list on the local stock market.

The IPO fund will invest in five to 10 private companies a year, with a special focus on small and medium enterprises, and will aim to have a ticket size of between 10 per cent and 40 per cent of the float, according to the Abu Dhabi Government Media Office.

Aldar Properties, First Abu Dhabi Bank, the country's biggest lender by assets, Dana Gas and Adnoc Distribution, among others, trade on the exchange.