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The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) received Leadership and Excellence Award in the field of sustainability; Mohamed Farid, EGX Chairman got the award on Tuesday, during the activities of the Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Global Dialogue of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable exchanges at the Geneva. This event is held once every two years, in the presence of representatives of the securities markets worldwide.
Dr. Mohamed Omran, The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) Chairman participated with EGX Chairman in receiving the award where the Secretary General of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) and the Federation of Financial Market Supervisors, as well as representatives of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and UNCTAD attended. The Award the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) obtained is "Groundbreaker" Award, as the founder of the United Nations initiative for sustainable exchanges along with 4 other exchanges, "Nasdaq - Johannesburg -Istanbul- Brazil”.
The award received is the result of the continued efforts of EGX during the past period to promote for sustainability in the stock markets at all levels locally, regionally and globally. Mohamed Farid stated that EGX participation in the Sustainable Stock Exchanges (Sse) Global Dialogue of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable exchanges confirms that EGX is keen to enhance its relationship with all the relevant parties in the securities industry worldwide in addition to strengthening the partnership and cooperation with them, particularly in the sustainability practices.
EGX Chairman said, “Building the capital markets’ capacity in terms of sustainability in accordance to the best global practices is a necessity in order to ensure permeant results of for the development and rejuvenation of stock exchanges to achieve their objectives.” Farid continued, "EGX works in cooperation with relevant parties to raise the awareness about sustainability best corporate levels of the listed companies at the levels of corporate social responsibility, commitment to environmental controls governance, and broadening the base of women representation in the corporate board of directors”.
In his speech, EGX chairman encouraged the international development organizations to adopt the initiative he introduced to invest in companies that constitute the sustainability indices such as the index issued by S&P EGX for companies that best apply sustainability and governance standards in Egypt. This is through establishing ETFs not only to encourage companies to disclose news related to sustainability, but also to invest in areas such as reducing energy consumption generated from renewable source, etc…
EGX Chairman highlighted that the investment law No. 72 for year 2017 that is prepared by the Ministry of Investment in coordination with the concerned parties under the supervision of The Minister of Investment and International Cooperation, mentioned for the first time in article No. 15 titled "Corporate Social Responsibility" that the investor may allocate a percentage of his profits to be used in establishing a system for community development. In addition to that, FRA exerts a lot of effort in working on the regulatory framework for green bonds in Egypt as it organized a dialogue late June in coordination with IFC and credit rating agencies to review and exchange views on the regulatory framework of green bonds in Egypt. It is considered a new tool that attracts many international financial institutions interested in monitoring significant financial investments to direct it to green projects.
Continuing the efforts EGX initiated in 2010 on sustainability that resulted in issuing the Sustainability Index, the last period witnessed the stock exchange's activity in terms of sustainability, starting with holding 4 meetings for EGX Sustainability Advisory Committee which was restructured in May 2018 in order to enhance and activate its role in formulating and designing policies that contribute in strengthening the sustainability processes of listed companies.
In addition, Mohamed Farid Chaired the Sustainability Committee of the African Securities Exchanges Association that was established through proposal presented EGX. A road map is in process to strengthen the sustainability aspect of the African stock exchanges.
In addition to EGX management efforts to build and develop the capabilities of the employees through technical training programs and training agreement between EGX and the London Stock Exchange (LSE) where 4 groups of employees were trained on the London Stock Exchange.
The United Nations Initiative for Sustainable Stock Exchanges, which EGX participated in its established in 2012 by the Egyptian Exchange, is one of the most important sustainable development initiatives in the global financial markets. It includes a number of global institutions and initiatives such as UNCTAD, UN-Global Compact, Principles for Responsible Investment» PRI, in addition to 78 stock exchanges as members of the initiative.
