Doha – Mubasher: The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) and Qatar Financial Markets Authority (QFMA) announced discussing the final steps for market-making activities that are expected to be launched in the second half of 2017.

The activities will be implemented by financial services companies that are already members in the market, after getting QFMA licences and completing the necessary procedures to start practising these activities, the QSE said in a statement published on its official website.

“Carrying out the market-making activity by the licensed financial services firms expected in the second half of the year 2017 will help [enhance] the market liquidity of eligible securities,” the QSE said, citing an unnamed spokesperson.

“The market-maker (the brokerage company which is a member of the exchange) shall, pursuant to a licence obtained from the QFMA, provide quotes in one or more eligible securities to enhance its liquidity in a manner specified in the agreement signed between the exchange and the market-maker setting forth the terms and conditions the market-maker is entitled to comply with,” according to the statement.

“The market-maker has to sign an agreement with the issuer setting the rules and conditions to be followed in order to enhance the liquidity…and should comply with all regulations of the exchange,” the spokesman noted. 

The rules also entail that the QFMA has the right “to suspend or terminate any market-maker agreement in order to maintain the integrity of securities trading...and to suspend or terminate any market-making agreement in the event of non-compliance with any of the agreement’s conditions or any breach of Law No 8 of 2012 regarding QFMA.”

After the issue of the market-making rules officially by the QFMA and after meeting all the requirements, financial services firms may apply to QFMA to obtain the licence.