Mubasher offers access to seven new markets across Africa, Asia

Mubasher Financial Services has offered its clients access to seven new markets across Africa and Asia, as it fights to retain market share in an increasingly tight market.

The Bahrain-headquartered brokerage firm announced yesterday that it now offered investors access to South Africa, Singapore, Hong Kong, Pakis­tan, Bangladesh, Australia and Japan, giving it coverage of 43 stock markets worldwide.

Mubasher says that it intends to offer access to 77 stock markets by the end of the year.

“We continue to expand our market coverage to ensure that we provide our investors with access to the world’s stock markets,” said Shafi ­Wahid, Mubasher’s head of broker network and director Asia & Africa.

“We continue to focus on growth and on providing our investors with best-in-class service.”

The new service offering comes as brokerage houses in the UAE feel the pressure from reduced trading volumes in the wake of lower oil prices, together with the prospect of lower commissions.

The Securities and Commodities Authority announced three weeks ago that it was cutting the commission on share transactions paid to brokerages by 17 per cent. It is not clear when the move will come into effect.

Mubasher is the second largest brokerage house in Dubai in terms of value of trades and number of trades on the Dubai Financial Market for the year so far, coming in behind the market leader, ADIB Securities.

jeverington@thenational.ae

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