HSBC Global Co-Head of Securities Services Richard Godfrey said that economic reforms in the Middle East have created conditions for a new increase in liquidity in the region and a reassessment of the outlook for financial markets by global investors.
Speaking to an audience of more than 400 delegates at the bank’s annual meeting of regulators, institutional investors and stock market managers on the sidelines of the annual HSBC Middle East Markets and Securities Services Forum, he said, “The Middle East region continues to offer more great investment opportunities, and the pace has been impressive. Economic reforms are very exceptional. The local markets also reflected that pace through increased market activity and high growth rates,” reports Al-Rai daily.
He stated that billions of dollars were injected through capital flows into the region’s asset markets from around the world through a series of reforms to liberalize access to international investors, create new hedging instruments, and increase institutional investment.
He pointed out that the reforms led to the inclusion of major regional stock markets in the benchmark indices tracked by mutual funds and major pension funds, which led to the support of additional capital inflows in the long term.
Godfrey went on to say, “The structural reform of the UAE’s New Weekly Work System announced in early 2022 that aligns with the work weekly system of the world’s largest capital markets in Asia, Europe and the United States has paved the way for more cash flows to the country.”
He explained that the change in working days corresponds well with global markets, and this matter received a positive view from the international community.
Antoine Morel, HSBC’s Head of Markets and Securities Services for the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, said: “Today we are bringing together a full range of market participants to better understand what matters most to investors. We all share a responsibility to make the global securities services business more efficient and less complex.”
Key topics brought up during the four-day forum include increased focus on issues of sustainability-related securities, the importance of developing common sustainability standards, as well as how regulation can successfully oversee the growing role of ledger technology or the blockchain platform in financing operations.