Government approves amendments to Capital Market Law

CAIRO - 20 April 2017: Egypt’s cabinet has approved some amendments to the Capital Market Law and sent it to the state council for review, Minister of Investment and International cooperation, Sahar Nasr said in a statement yesterday.

The new law aims primarily to protect the rights of minority shareholders and impose fines for violations of the law. It also allows authorities to unwind stock market trades if there is suspicion that international money laundering may be involved, according to the statement.

The law also covers the issuance of sukuks, Sharia-compliant bonds, and gives the Egyptian Exchange the flexibility to set lower listing fees to attract smaller companies to the market.

Nasr said that amendments come in light of the ministry’s efforts to improve the investment climate in Egypt.

The government has been working on improving the business climate in Egypt in order to attract much-needed foreign investments, one of the economy’s main sources of foreign currency.