HSBC has successfully executed the first international Securities Lending and Borrowing (SLB) transaction on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). The stock exchange states in a press release that the transaction was “the latest step in the continued evolution and expansion of Dubai’s capital markets. HSBC facilitated the transaction as a custodian, acting as both the lending and borrowing representative.
In addition, the bank also acted as a lending agent and, separately, a prime broker, borrowing DFM-listed equities from the asset owner which global institutional investors could then use to access the DFM.
DFM says that it sees the ability to provide end-to-end, over-the-counter SLB transactions as a milestone development and that SLB is “part of the critical infrastructure facilitating the regulated short selling of securities”. It expects that investors will now be able to hedge portfolios more effectively or take new positions to derive additional opportunities on traded securities.
