Arabian Post Staff -Dubai
ADX said on Tuesday that ISX had become the eighth market to go live on Tabadul, while the wider network now comprises 11 exchanges. The platform allows participating markets to connect without requiring companies to pursue dual listings, with transactions settled in local currencies and brokerage firms able to access partner exchanges remotely.
The operational launch expands a network whose participating markets have a combined capitalisation of more than $1 trillion, over 700 listed companies and more than 11 million registered investors, according to ADX. Tabadul links markets spanning Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Oman, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Southern Africa and Iraq.
Abdulla Salem Alnuaimi, group chief executive of ADX, said direct investment channels were becoming increasingly important as regional economies grew more interconnected. He said Iraq’s addition would provide investors with a direct route to Iraqi listed companies while widening opportunities for capital flows between participating markets.
Ali Jamal Amin, executive director of ISX, described the start of trading as a milestone in cooperation between the Iraqi and Abu Dhabi capital markets, saying the connection created additional opportunities for cross-border investment and market integration.
The launch follows regulatory and technical preparations undertaken after ADX, ISX and the Iraqi Securities Commission signed an agreement in April 2025 to integrate the Baghdad exchange with Tabadul. The Iraqi regulator subsequently approved requirements allowing domestic brokerage firms to seek trading membership for access to ADX and foreign brokerage firms to apply for membership to trade on ISX through the platform.
Those arrangements are central to the mutual-access model. Investors ordinarily register through an authorised financial firm and complete applicable know-your-customer requirements, while participating brokers provide the route into securities available through connected exchanges. The structure is intended to make cross-border trading possible through existing market infrastructure rather than requiring issuers to list shares separately in every participating jurisdiction.
The Iraq Stock Exchange, based in Baghdad, had 103 listed companies and a market capitalisation of $21.7 billion as of August, ADX said. Its listed instruments include equities, government bonds and corporate debt. The exchange began operating in its present form in 2004 and has progressively expanded electronic trading and market infrastructure.
Tabadul was launched by ADX in July 2022 as a digital exchange hub built around reciprocal market access. Its first cross-market trade was executed that month after Bahrain Bourse joined the initiative. The network has since expanded through agreements with exchanges in the Middle East, Central Asia, the Caucasus and Africa.
Trading activity has accelerated alongside that expansion. ADX said in July that Tabadul recorded AED13.5 billion in trading value during the first half of 2026, already exceeding the value recorded for the whole of 2025. At that stage, the network included 10 exchange members, with the Amman Stock Exchange having started live trading on June 1.
The distinction between joining the network and going live is significant. Exchanges can sign agreements and become members before technical connectivity, brokerage permissions and operational arrangements are completed. Iraq’s move into live trading therefore marks the point at which the earlier integration agreement has translated into market access for investors.
For Iraqi investors, the immediate change is the ability, through participating intermediaries, to reach securities on ADX from their home market framework. For investors elsewhere on Tabadul, the connection can provide access to eligible Iraqi securities where brokerage and regulatory requirements are satisfied.
ADX has positioned Tabadul as part of its effort to widen international connectivity and create additional channels for liquidity. The platform covers listed companies across sectors including banking and finance, energy and telecommunications, giving participating investors a broader pool of securities than is available on any single member exchange.
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