Dubai is launching a company, xCube, that will develop algorithms and adopt technology to organize and promote the activities of the market maker companies in the financial markets, to attract more capital and facilitate high-frequency trading on both listed cash equities and derivatives on local markets.
Essa Kazim has been appointed the chairman of xCube, while Arif Amiri, Saeed Al Awar, Hind bint Mohammed bin Kharbash and Jacques Visser will be its board members.
“Both retail investors and institutional investors will benefit from the improved spreads and the lower volatility that often results from market makers playing an active role in markets,” said Mr. Kazim.
“By bringing the latest technologies and know-how in market making to the local markets, we anticipate renewed interest from investors both locally and globally.”
The development comes as Dubai plans to list 10 government and state-owned companies on the DFM as part of a broader strategy to double the financial market’s size to Dh3 trillion ($816.7 billion).
Furthermore, to encourage small, medium companies to list their stocks on DFM, Dubai plans to launch two funds, total worth Dh3 billion. This, in turn, will boost the trading on the stock markets. Along with this, as part of these plans, the Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation, the governmental utility company, DEWA, the Salik, the road toll system, and Tecom, investment-free zones operator, will soon be listed on DFM in the next few months.
