$44 million in Bank Audi shares change hands

Cross-trade transaction an arranged deal, day’s share price unchanged

Over 7.7 million Bank Audi shares valued at over $44 million changed hands this afternoon (July 10) in a cross-trade transaction on the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE).

A similar transaction was recorded for Solidere A and B shares last month in which over two million shares valued at $26 million changed hands.

“The deal was definitely arranged, the shares simply changed ownership,” said Toufic Karam, head of Capital Markets at FFA Private Bank. In that respect, the transactions were unremarkable, if it is rarer for bank shares to change ownership than it is for Solidere shares, said Karam.

A cross trade refers to a transaction whereby shares are transferred between two parties at an agreed price. This could happen in several ways, one way is the shares are part of an inheritance.

For the transfer of shares to be official and legal they have to go through the market and are therefore registered as a trade. The shares must also be sold at a price within the ‘bid and offer’ range for the day.

Reported by Hani Bathiche