Financial markets regulator to start operating soon

Authority will seek to license foreign
firms and privatize the BSE within one year

The Cabinet has appointed three experts to the board of directors of the Financial Markets Authority: Sami Saliba, a banking affairs’ expert, Firas Safieddine, a capital markets’ expert, and Fadi el Fakih, a financial affairs’ expert.

The Financial Markets Authority was created through the capital markets law, which stipulates the establishment of an independent body for regulating and supervising capital markets.
The authority’s board of directors consists of seven members. It is chaired by the Central Bank governor, and includes as members the director general of the Ministry of Finance, the director general of the Ministry of Economy and Trade, the chairman of the Banking Control Commission (BCC), and the three experts, whose appointment completes the board.

“The swearing in is scheduled for Thursday (June 26),” said Sami Saliba, who in addition to his new position of the authority's board is CFO of BBAC Bank. The board is set to convene its first meeting a few days after the swearing in. “During the meeting, the board will discuss the action plan through which it will implement the (capital markets) law 161,” said Saliba. As per the capital markets law, adopted last August, the Financial Markets Authority is tasked with organizing and developing financial markets.

"The law states that the authority should work to turn the stock market into a private institution within one year (from the swearing in),” Saliba said. He said the authority will also seek to issue licenses to foreign firms and funds. The law states that the authority shall issue licenses to brokers and financial rating agencies, license collective investment schemes, and set the regulatory framework for listing financial instruments. The authority is also tasked with protecting investors from illegal practices, issue fines for violations of the capital markets law, and initiate legal action against insider trading crimes

According to Saliba, the authority’s work will not likely be delayed: “(Though) the law took ten years to materialize, the implementation is not supposed to be delayed any further because the authority is made up of private sector players, and is backed by the governor of the Central Bank.”

Reported by Hanadi Chami