Egypt Financial Regulatory Authority sets out capital market law projects and a derivatives roadmap including options and short selling

Egypt’s Prime Minister met the Chair of the Egypt Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) and the new Chair of the Egyptian Exchange to review capital market development, directing faster completion of draft laws to regulate the market and urging quicker listing of state-owned companies on the exchange. The FRA framed the work as part of broader efforts to update supervisory policies across non-banking financial activities and expand the range of capital market instruments, alongside coordination with the exchange and other bodies on digital infrastructure to improve transparency and investor decision-making. The discussion highlighted improved exchange metrics, including daily trading exceeding EGP 12bn and market capitalisation above EGP 3.6trn. The FRA pointed to recent steps to complete the launch of financial derivatives markets following the introduction of EGX30 index futures, with work under way to enable options trading, activate market-making activity, and finalise the last step for securities borrowing and selling (short selling) by linking brokerage firms with Misr for Central Clearing. The exchange also indicated plans to introduce single-stock futures before options and to support market integrity and increased listings through technology-enabled transparency and investor awareness initiatives. Next steps referenced in the meeting include FRA and exchange cooperation to complete the outstanding capital market legislative projects, progress final listing and offering procedures for companies currently temporarily listed, and roll out options trading and short-selling mechanisms once the necessary linkages and market arrangements are completed.