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Union Coop, the UAE’s largest consumer cooperative, has announced that it will convert its physical share certificates to electronic form through an innovative solution provided by Emirates Islamic, one of the leading financial institutions in the UAE through its brokerage arm, Emirates Islamic Financial Brokerage (EIFB). The shares will be held on Nasdaq Dubai’s Central Securities Depository (CSD), thereby simplifying and improving the trading process for Emirati investors. The transfer of the certificates on to Nasdaq Dubai’s CSD will take place later this year.
Union Coop is owned by over 30,000 UAE nationals, who currently buy and sell share certificates manually at the Company’s shareholder centre at Etihad Mall. Through this agreement with Emirates Islamic and Nasdaq Dubai, Union Coop will move its shares to an electronic platform in order to centralise the process, providing a single market price that is visible to everyone, based on overall supply and demand.
Shareholders will be able to trade their shares through Emirates Islamic, using multiple channels including the EIFB online platform, mobile app or over the phone. Shareholders will have the convenience of “spot settlement”, with the instant transfer and receipt of shares. The shares will be held in Nasdaq Dubai’s CSD, providing an electronic register of the shares, allowing shareholders to easily keep account of their holding.
Khalid Al Falasi, CEO of Union Coop, said:“As we further extend our store network and enhance our services to customers, we are delighted to also modernise and upgrade the system by which Dubai-based Emiratis can trade share certificates of Union Coop. The trading process will benefit from the cost-effective and seamless technology provided by Emirates Islamic and EIFB, which are among the UAE’s leading financial services institutions.”
Hamed Ali, Chief Executive of Nasdaq Dubai, said: “We are delighted to provide support to Union Coop, one of the UAE’s leading retailers, and its tens of thousands of investors as well as other Emiratis who may wish to buy its share certificates for the first time. Nasdaq Dubai is committed to providing transparency and efficiency in all transactions for its market participants through its first class capital markets infrastructure.”
Jamal Bin Ghalaita, CEO of Emirates Islamic, said:“This announcement is aligned to Emirates Islamic’s commitment to develop innovative, digital-driven Shari’a-compliant financial services.As a key partner of Union Coop, we are pleased to support the company’s transition to electronic share trading, further strengthening our ties with the Emirati investor community. Trading Union Coop shares using EIFB’s multiple channels will now be transparent, risk-free and as easy and straightforward as trading shares in a listed company.”
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