Marcopolis presents the Kuwait Report focused on the investments, doing business, economy and other topics featuring interviews with Kuwaiti leaders. The sectors under review in this issue are industry, oil and gas sector, investments, banking sector, telecom sector and many more.
According to Capital Standards, "There are a total of 100 investment companies operating in Kuwait with 54 operating within the confines of the Islamic Sharia provisions and the rest operating as conventional investment companies." Some of these companies are listed as well under asset management companies, investment banks and investment holding companies. Here is the structure of Kuwait Banking system. The sector has been hit hard by the financial crisis and non-interventionist policy by the government. The investment companies face many challenges. The sector will continue to restructure the depts and deleverage. For the complete list of investment companies click here.
Note: In accordance with Law No. 7 of the year 2010 concerning the establishment of the Capital Markets Authority and the Regulation of Securities' Activity and Ministerial Decision No. 38 of the year 2011 regarding the organization of the Central Bank of Kuwait's (CBK) supervision of finance companies, the regulation of investment companies has shifted from CBK to the Capital Markets Authority as of 13th September 2011. Therefore, CBK's role toward these companies is now confined to the supervision of their practiced financial activity.
Kuwait Stock Exchange
The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) is the national stock market of The State of Kuwait. Although several share holding companies (such as NBK in 1952) existed in Kuwait prior to the creation of the KSE, it was not until October 1962 that a law was passed to organize the country's stock market.
According to KAMCO research latest report, market capitalization amounted to KWD 29 bn (US$104 bn) down from KWD 36 bn (US$ 130,6 bn) in 2010. Kuwait Stock Exchange lists 215 companies spanning across 10 sectors. The largest sectors by company composition are the services and investment, with 61 and 52 companies respectively, followed by the real estate and industries, each comprising of 18.0% and 13.0% of the total number of listed companies and by value the list is topped by services, followed by banking and food related companies.
Kuwait Capital Market Authority
Parliament approved a bill to create the CMA, the country's first stock-market regulator, in February 2010. CMA regulations should transform into forceful laws, adding much needed transparency and trust to Kuwait's financial system. Often the companies listed on the KSE have are implicated in a convoluted, opaque ownership schemes and many argue that there has been many cases of insider trading and tunneling of the listed companies.