Capital Markets Authority (CMA) Uganda has taken a big step forward for international links, after changes to Ugandan law. CMA been admitted by global securities standards setter International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) as a signatory to Appendix A of the IOSCO Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MMoU).
The MMoU provides an international benchmark for cross-border cooperation and offers securities regulators tools for combating cross-border fraud and misconduct. Uganda’s regulator will have increased access to knowledge and research through the IOSCO network.
The admission follows the recent amendment of Uganda’s CMA Act. The capital market regulator becomes the 112th member to append its signature to the memorandum, which was instituted in 2002.
Keith Kalyegira, the CEO of CMA, said in a press release: “This is a big step for CMA and Uganda in general and I must thank all the stakeholders that have been very instrumental in enabling us to reach this milestone including the CMA Board; our parent ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development; Parliament of Uganda; and the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs which has tirelessly worked with us to enhance our regulatory framework so that it can fit international standards.
“Our desire going forward is to transform Uganda’s capital market into one of the most efficient, and trusted centres for attracting capital and providing capital in Africa, and this could not easily be achieved without enhancing our regulatory framework to fully suit international standards by ensuring we comply with Appendix A requirements”.
CMA Uganda became a member of the IOSCO Appendix B in 2007 and has since been compliant with most of the international best practices in regulation. However, its participation, engagement and contribution to international dialogues was limited.
The IOSCO MMoU supports mutual cooperation, assistance and consultation among members to ensure compliance with, and enforcement of securities laws and regulations. It is a response to more international activity in securities and derivatives markets.
The formal signing ceremony will be held at the 42nd IOSCO annual conference due in Jamaica in May 2017. CMA first applied to IOSCO to become a signatory to the IOSCO MMoU in September 2007, and was assigned to Appendix B. The capital market regulator proactively started steps over several years towards legislative change to bring Uganda’s legislation into compliance with the MMoU. The reapplication was submitted to the IOSCO General Secretariat in July 2016.
East Africa regulator links
CMA is also a member of the East African Securities Regulatory Authorities (EASRA), which is instrumental in the development of the capital markets industry in East Africa. This includes some joint oversight activities, particularly for financial firms operating in more than one of the East African Community EAC countries. CMA Uganda also does joint inspections with its Kenyan counterpart.
Uganda’s growing capital market
CMA recently concluded its 5-year strategy, and expects to launch a 10-year capital markets development master plan by the end of March. This will map a growth plan for Uganda’s capital market which already includes 2 Ugandan securities exchanges. It will lay a strategy for increasing access to patient capital to finance the growth of commerce and industry in Uganda.
In Uganda, CMA cooperates with other government agencies in the financial sector including Bank of Uganda, the Insurance Regulatory Authority, the Uganda Retirement Benefits Regulatory Authority (URBRA), and the Uganda Registration Services Bureau. The Uganda Registration Services Bureau acts as the Registrar of Companies and implements the Companies Act, 2012 (Companies Act).
It also works with law-enforcement agencies such as the Office of the Attorney General, Director of Public Prosecutions and the Uganda Police. CMA, Bank of Uganda and the Uganda Insurance Commission (now the Insurance Regulatory Authority) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate cooperation and exchange information in the securities, banking and insurance sectors.
Trading of listed securities is conducted through the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE), established in 1998. There are 16 listed companies on the USE, of which 7 are from privatization of government parastatals. Trading of government bonds on the USE was introduced in 2004.
In July 2015, an automated trading system was introduced on the USE. The clearing and settlement period is 3 days (T+3). A computerized Securities Central Depository System (SCD) was put in place in 2010 following the enactment of the Securities Central Depositories Act (SCD Act) in 2009. The SCD has enabled the USE to automate the clearing and settlement process.
On 4 March 2014, CMA’s Board of Directors considered and approved the application of ALT Xchange East Africa Limited to operate as a stock exchange in Uganda in accordance with the CMA Act.
