Dubai Financial Market (DFM) has launched a trading platform for exchange-traded funds, the first of its kind for the region’s capital markets. The platform aims to offer enhanced integration and ongoing support to the burgeoning ETF industry, particularly market makers, authorized participants and liquidity providers.

His Excellency Essa Kazim, Chairman of Dubai Financial Market.

The launch of the new platform follows from the June 2016 launch of the Afkar S&P UAE UCITS ETF (Ticker: UAETF) by Abu Dhabi-based asset manager Afkar Capital. The ETF tracks the S&P UAE BMI Liquid 20/35 Capped Index, a reference for the largest stocks by market capitalization in the UAE, and is the first fund listed in the Middle East under the UAE’ new regulations.

His Excellency Essa Kazim, Chairman of DFM said: “Dubai Financial Market is committed to its strategy of providing investors with a wide range of innovative products. Over the past few months, the 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.”

Afkar has also announced that it signed Al Ramz Capital as a new Authorized Participant 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.

The addition of a new AP and the appointment of a foreign market maker aims to further facilitate the creation and redemption of UAETF’s shares, helping to keep its fair value in check.

Afkar Capital’s CEO Seif Fikry said: “Since launching last summer, UAETF has received a strongly positive reception not just in the Middle East, but from global authorized participants and market makers with whom we have met in both the United Kingdom and the United States. As the fund continued to gain traction, we saw that the timing was ripe to expand our AP list and tap into a wider segment of the investment community. We are confident that our new partnership with Al Ramz Capital will further facilitate access to UAETF and expand the fund’s reach to local and global investors, fund managers and institutions with appetite for the UAE market.”

Added Fikry: “We are now focusing on secondary market liquidity as a necessary step to unlock the fund’s upside potential following its successful launch. In that regard, we are proud to partner up with Beltone as the first foreign market maker for a domestically listed fund in the Middle East, a move that further underscores our commitment to staying at the leading edge of new financial regulations designed to allow the market, investors and market participants to efficiently create new value.”

In addition to Al Ramz Capital’s appointment and adding Beltone Financial as Foreign Liquidity Provider, existing UAETF APs include EFG Hermes Brokerage UAE, Al Safwa Mubasher Financial Services and NBAD Securities.