|By TAP Staff| The United Arab Emirates’ stock exchange plans to offer a trading platform for shares in private joint-stock companies so that they can raise capital with less disclosure of corporate information than publicly listed firms.
Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum said that trading would begin over the next few months on a special platform set up inside the country’s existing stock exchanges, state news agency WAM reported.
The new market, where listing does not require full stock exchange disclosure, is also intended to serve as a stepping stone for some companies to go public, and will facilitate that process by providing ownership records, WAM said.
The UAE hopes to attract private joint-stock companies from other countries to trade their shares, including the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council as well as other Arab countries, WAM said.