Capital Market Authority Prohibits Issuing Shares without Approval

Jun 24 , 2023

Issuing shares without the approval of the Ethiopian Capital Market Authority is prohibited pending the implementation of a new "Public Offering" directive. A document outlining details of a company looking for investment will need to be presented and gain approval from the Authority before shares can be sold. Tsehale Belhu, state minister for Trade & Regional Integration and Brook Taye (PhD), director general of the Authority, made the announcement at a press briefing held at the Ministry's headquarters around Gurd Shola last week. "Investor protection is one of the mandates of the Authority," said Brook. The Ethiopian Capital Market Authority was formed as an autonomous federal agency in July 2021 and has issued three directives with the Director General indicating that the markets will be fully up and running by next year. Currently, there are no companies listed. However, Brook noted that ongoing selling procedures of share companies should be made known to the Authority after the directive sees the light of day. The State Minister indicated that only commercial banks and microfinance institutions have shown regard for investor protection in the past due to the strict oversight of the central bank.