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The Bahrain Financial Exchange (BFX), the first multi-asset exchange in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, secured high-profile collaboration with its latest signing with Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider.
Through the deal, the BFX will market futures contracts based on a set of regional indexes and on an Indian stocks index to be traded and settled through the BFX’s internationally accessible platform. The indexes, which are part of the BFX’s first phase of products will include: Dow Jones Kuwait Titans 30 Index, Dow Jones MSM (Muscat Securities Market) Index, Dow Jones ASE (Amman Stock Exchange) 100 Index, Dow Jones SAFE India Index, and Dow Jones MENA Index (excluding Saudi Arabia).
Commenting on the announcement, Arshad Khan, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of the BFX and the BCDC, said, “This relationship with Dow Jones Indexes, the region’s leading index provider, represents another significant step forward for the BFX and its members. With this collaboration, we are developing the preeminent exchange in the region which will provide a range of internationally recognized products and services to the financial sector”.
“We are delighted to work with the BFX as it creates new opportunities for investors in this region,” said Michael A. Petronella, President, Dow Jones Indexes. “These indexes measure important markets of interest to people in a region that we are committed to support in its expansion,” added Petronella.
The BFX will be listing futures products on the underlying Dow Jones-branded indexes, which will provide investors access to track the performance and trade the index futures on the largest and most liquid stocks trading in the MENA region and the Indian stock markets. Furthermore, having access to these products will allow BFX members to benefit from these growing markets and, at the same time, allowing them to diversify their portfolios.
The index futures product specifications have been developed to address the trading requirements of both retail and institutional investors on a platform, where they can participate from across the MENA region or international markets.
This key relationship is another milestone as the BFX continues to develop its product range which will offer market participants an unprecedented variety of investment and risk management solutions, with a broad range of cash instruments, derivatives, structured products and Shariah-compliant financial instruments to choose from in a secure trading environment.
