SICO appointed as market maker for Bank ABC
Bank ABC has obtained the Central Bank of Bahrain’s (CBB) approval to appointa market maker to enhance the liquidity of the Bank ABC’s share trading on the BahrainBourse. This arrangement was alsoapproved by the Bank’s shareholders during their Ordinary General Assemblymeeting last March.
To achieve this goal, Bank ABC has appointed as of 20 June 2018 theSecurities and Investment Company BSC (SICO) as the designated market makerwith respect to the Bank’s ordinary shares listed on the Bahrain Bourse. Accordingto the market making arrangement, SICO has sole discretion to buy and sell apercentage of Bank ABC shares not exceeding 1% of the total issued sharecapital, on ABC’s behalf, thereby creating a more dynamic two-way market thatwill enhance the liquidity of the Bank’s shares for market participants.
The market making programme with SICO will be in effect for an initial12-month period following its establishment, so as to enable Bank ABC to gaugethe success of the arrangement, but it may be extended thereafter if the Bank’sBoard of Directors considers it appropriate.
“The Bank ABC Group has had a longstanding issue in that the intrinsicvalue of Bank ABC is not fully reflected in its Bahrain Bourse share price. Anumber of factors have contributed to this, including the low trading volume ofBank ABC’s ordinary shares on the Bahrain Bourse. The market making mechanismis designed to contribute to tackling this issue,” Dr. Kawan pointed out, alsonoting an intention to continuously enhance the Group’s approach to investorrelations, another essential factor in facilitating market participants fullunderstanding of ABC’s value potential.
Bank ABC is a leading player in the region’s banking industry andprovides innovative wholesale financial products and services that includecorporate banking, trade finance, project and structured finance, syndications,treasury products and Islamic banking. It also provides retail banking servicesthrough its network of retail banks in Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria.
