Dubai Financial Market (DFM) today announced the launch of a trading platform for exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the first of its kind in regional capital markets.

Governed by a world-class regulatory framework, the platform offers unprecedented levels of integration and provides ongoing support to the burgeoning ETF industry, particularly market makers, authorised participants and liquidity providers.

DFM today hosted a bell ringing ceremony to celebrate the launch of this platform in the presence of Essa Kazim, Chairman of DFM, Dr. Obaid Al Zaabi, acting CEO of the Securities and Commodities Authority, as well as representatives of leading global, regional and local companies cooperating with DFM and Afkar Capital in the launch of the new platform. It is noteworthy that Afkar Capital listed the first ETF fund on DFM platform.

Also today, Afkar Capital announced that it signed Al Ramz Capital as a new Authorised Participant (AP) for the fund, bringing the total number of APs to four.

The firm has also appointed Beltone Financial as a Foreign Liquidity Provider, marking the first time a foreign market maker has been appointed as liquidity provider for a domestically listed fund in the Middle East.

DFM’s licensing of Al Ramz as an AP and of Beltone as a market marker came under a new regulatory framework announced as part of DFM’s commitment to optimise its ETF trading platform, the first of its kind in the region to offer a high level of integration between its regulatory frameworks and operating mechanism.

"Over the past few months, Dubai Financial Market has approved a new set of regulations developed in collaboration with traders to serve as a foundation for its new ETF platform. This follows the 2016 launch of the Afkar S&P UAE UCITS ETF and underscores our drive to further diversify our product offering for both local and global investors," said Essa Kazim, Chairman of DFM.

The fund, which is listed on DFM under the symbol "UAETF" (Bloomberg: UAETF UH Equity), launched in June 2016. It is the first physical, in-kind, liquid, fully fungible, fully tradable and transparent exchange-traded fund listed in the Middle East under the United Arab Emirates’ new regulations.

UAETF offers single-click exposure to one of the world’s premier financial and commercial hubs by investing in three UAE markets: the Dubai Financial Market, the Abu Dhabi Exchange and NASDAQ Dubai.

The addition of a new AP and the appointment of a foreign market maker will further facilitate the creation and redemption of UAETF’s shares, keeping its fair value in check, and will allow the firm to efficiently meet the growing market demand for the ETF.

"The appointment of Al Ramz Capital as an AP falls in line with our strategy of continuously expanding our investment products and presenting our clients with a diversified basket of investment instruments to choose from," said Mohammad Al Mortada Al Dandashi, Managing Director at Al Ramz Capital.

"This cooperation reflects the deepening of already very significant ties between Egypt and the UAE in our industry," said Maged Shawky, Vice Chairman of Beltone Financial Holding. "

UAETF’s success is owed directly to the strong partnerships we have forged with Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority, DFM, the Abu Dhabi Global Market, Bank of New York Mellon, S&P Dow Jones Indices and our existing authorised participants and liquidity providers, said Afkar Capital’s CEO Seif Fikry