Kuwaiti economists hope CMA boosts domestic, foreign investments

Kuwaiti economists hoped the Capital Markets Authority, or CMA, boost its role to attract domestic and foreign investment thus transforming Kuwait into a regional financial and commercial hub.
The economists, in separate statements to KUNA, said CMA was working on organizing stock trading in a "just, competitive and transparent manner," as well as educating the public about advantages and risks of trading with shares, and protecting the traders.
One of CMA's major objectives, they noted, was to minimize the risks and enforce transparent disclosures, crack down on conflict of interest and make sure KSE was complying with rules and regulations.
Muhannad Al-Mesbah, Deputy CEO of Murabahat Investment Company, called on new CMA commissioners to apply the law in a strict manner to address sticky issues of listed companies.
"There are many priorities that the commissioners need to address in order to tackle the red tape ... The CMA's anwers to some queries by some companies were not clear enough, which was causing problems for some companies that wanted to address their own problems," he said.
Mohammad Al-Tarrah, head of traders association, said many traders were pinning high hopes on CMA commissioners to smoothen relations with listed companies, a step that would encourage more investments in the stock market.
Al-Tarrah said Kuwait could benefit from the Saudi stock markets authority, bearing in mind that many Kuwaiti companies have high market value with cross-border operations.
Hamad Al-Shemmeri, a financial analyst, hoped the commissioners, who he described as "experienced," would succeed in removing obstacles facing some companies in KSE.
"We also hope the penalties will be applied on some companies' boards to protect the money being investment in the stock market," he said.
The CMS was established in 2010 with the aim of organizing and monitoring stock exchange in a transparent manner, as well as compelling listed companies to comply with good governance and protection of investors.