Islamabad Stock Exchange - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Islamabad Stock Exchange or ISE is one and youngest of the three stock exchanges of Pakistan and is located in the capital of Islamabad. Islamabad stock exchange (ISE) was incorporated as a guarantee limited company on 25 October 1989 in Islamabad capital territory with the main object of setting up of a trading and settlement infrastructure, information system, skilled resources, accessibility and a fair and orderly market place that ranks with the best in the world. It was licensed as a stock exchange on 7 January 1992. For the first time, it started trading in July 1992.

Trading System

Initially an outcry method of trading (a method of trading that uses verbal bids and offers in the trading pits) in shares was adopted which was replaced with the automated trading system (a computerized system for matching orders in securities) commonly called “ISE-CTS” in 1997. In the year 2002, ISECTS gave way to “ULTRA TRADE” trading system which is not only very efficient but also has extended trading capacity, internet trading functionality.

The computerized trading system has brought about much needed transparency in the securities trading. It has been designed in such a way to provide automatic matching of bids and offers for execution purpose. All orders are treated in strict price and time priority, thus ensuring a pure auction market where no order is overlooked or traded through. In this manner, the best trade is executed and passed on to the participants without human interference. Printed confirmation and status messages are immediately received by a member for each of his order.

Remote Trading or Internet Trading has been implemented in ISE on 23 June 2003. Now Brokers can trade from anywhere in the world using remote trading software of ISE with the same robustness as working on the LAN.

Settlement System

When ISE was established T+7 settlement cycle was used for settlement of shares. T+3 was introduced in 2001 which has been replaced by T+2 settlement cycle in August 2007 to reduce the overall settlement risk in the market.

Members/Brokers

Currently Islamabad Stock Exchange has 120 members against 200 as allowed to the exchange, in terms of Article 3(a) of Articles of Association. Of 120 members, 26 are individual and 94 are corporate members.

Listed Companies

There are 261 companies listed in Islamabad Stock Exchange at the moment. However, number of listed companies varies from time to time due to delisting, mergers and default of companies.

Unified Trading System

Islamabad Stock Exchange joined hands with Lahore Stock Exchange on 30 April 2007 to establish a Unified Trading Platform to help in bringing increased liquidity in the market, improving price discovery, maximizing transparency, increasing turnover, broadening investor base, curtailing risks and distortions in trade, providing cost effective service to the investing public and enhancing the image of both the Exchanges.

Indexes

On 1 January 2004, ISE launched its own capital weighted index which is ISE-10 index with a base date of Dec 31, 2002 and a value of 1000. Before its launch ISE was using index of KSE-100. ISE also has a price weighted index called ISE Network Index which was launched on November 1996.

Investors’ Protection

Investor Protection Fund has been established in ISE for the protection of investors. ISE took the initiative to introduce system audit of brokers in 2002 and made it compulsory for maintaining internal control on members. To increase market transparency and improve its surveillance capacity, the Unique (Client) Identification Number (UIN) System was launched at pre trade level in August 2006 in ISE. Also a new risk management structure (RMS) was introduced in December 2006 in ISE. New RMS included, among others, a new netting regime; a margining system based on value at risk (VAR) and capital adequacy. The VAR is a state of the art risk management system practiced internationally that takes into account risk associated with each share based on historical data. System audit of brokers was introduced in 2003 and made necessary.

Code of Corporate Governance

ISE incorporated Code of Corporate Governance in its listing regulations on 2002 to strengthen corporate governance practices in companies of Pakistan. In order to implement a good corporate governance practices in stock exchanges of Pakistan, ISE took the lead to elect a non-broker Chairman for the year 2006. Exchange Board of ISE was restructured in 2003 according to which the Board of Directors constituted of 10 members, of whom 5 are elected members of the Exchange, 4 are non-members nominated by SECP, and an independent non-member Managing Director is appointed by virtue of his office.

ISE Towers

ISE intended to construct a high-rise structure in order to cope with the up-coming demands of stock exchange business. For this purpose, ISE build new building which is properly designed using latest techniques to with stand against any natural disasters. The salient features of this building are as under:

ISE tower is 22 storey building located at (plot no 3035) Jinnah Avenue Blue Area Islamabad which makes it the second highest tower of Islamabad after construction of Telecom Towers. Area covered by the building is 562629 sq ft (52,269.9 m²), it consists of three levels of basements and ground plus 18 floors above. Basements have capacity to accommodate three hundred cars at a time; also it has a plant room for latest HVAC system requirements. Ground floor is allocated for meeting the requirements of banks. Each floor is provided with (6 No) passenger lifts, accompanied by one cargo lift and three stair halls. The central cooling and heating system is provided in the building and it is also equipped with latest communication and electrical systems. For a safe working environment, properly designed fire fighting system is provided along with the emergency fire exists. It is also the first building in Islamabad to have an LCD screen attached on it.

ISE Towers are designed by NESPAK Pvt. Ltd. and the contractors were Habib Rafiq Pvt. Ltd. The construction started in early 2006 and the Towers were completed in April 2009. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on 31 July 2009.

External links

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