Boursa Kuwait has announced the launch of an Over the Counter Market (OTC), a new trading platform for those companies that are not listed on the bourse.

The new market will serve as a trading platform for companies that are not listed on Boursa Kuwait.

OTC transactions will be carried out through licensed brokerage offices working under Capital Market Authority bylaws and Boursa Kuwait rules for the OTC market, said a statement from Boursa Kuwait.

The newly introduced market aims to create a transparent environment by bringing buyers and sellers together using fully supervised mechanisms. The trading platform will adopt the clearing and settlement procedures, it stated.

Boursa Kuwait said it has also developed a comprehensive offering for OTC market transactions, where records of shareholders will be subject to the maintained by Kuwait Clearing Company.

The OTC platform will facilitate transparent trading to protect investors interests, it added.

CEO Khaled Abdulrazzaq AlKhaled said: "Introducing an OTC market will help strengthen Kuwait’s economy by creating and diversifying the investment opportunities for both investors and business owners who are eager to venture into new territories, but to whom protective mechanisms are of great importance."

"As the first offer of its kind in the region, this important step showcases Boursa Kuwait’s efforts to not only support the local investment community but, first and foremost, position Kuwait’s capital market as a leader in the region," he noted.

The bourse said the OTC was a market developed by Boursa Kuwait as a supplement to the current exchange and is the only market in the region specific to the electronic trading of unlisted stocks.

Since its establishment in 2014, Boursa Kuwait has been committed to raising the standards of the Kuwaiti market, facilitating the development of a sound, internationally recognized, leading regional exchange, it added.-TradeArabia News Service