The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) will on Tuesday hold consultations on the proposed harmonised East African Community (EAC) capital markets legal and regulatory framework.

The half-day workshop will sensitise stakeholders on the second set content of the regulatory frameworks as well as trigger the necessary feedback to allow for their finalisation.

The EAC Markets Protocol prioritises regionalisation of the East African Capital Markets with the aim of providing an opportunity for the growth and deepening of the capital markets in the region to promote economic growth.

To implement the EAC Common Market Protocol, an EAC regionalisation strategy was developed which recommended that EAC regionalisation should be implemented in legal and regulatory terms through a harmonised rather than a single overarching regime.

Each country would recognise the regulatory regime of other countries through harmonisation of policies and approximation of laws.

The first set of seven EAC Council Directives developed in 2013 was taken through a stakeholder consultation process in September to October 2013 which culminated in a stakeholders’ workshop in December 2013.

The stakeholders’ input was considered and the Directives were considered by the EAC Sectoral Council of Finance and Economic Affairs at its meeting of 15th March 2014 and thereafter promulgated by the EAC Council of Ministers on 28th April 2014.

All the EAC Partner States are now in the process of incorporating these Directives into their respective national legal frameworks.

The second set of nine draft Council Directives has been finalized and are now ready for stakeholder consultation.

These Directives cover Securities Exchange, Central Securities Depositories, Self-Regulatory Organisations, and Conduct of Business for Market Intermediaries, Corporate Governance for Listed Companies; Anti-Money Laundering, Investor Compensation Funds; Investor Protection and Regulation of Takeovers and Mergers.

The nine draft Directives have been on stakeholder and public exposure for a thirty-day period ending July 18, 2014.

Alongside the harmonization of the laws, there is also an ongoing project on capital markets infrastructure development that will facilitate cross border trades, delivery and settlement.

Source: Capital FM

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