Tunis Stock Exchange (TSE) was established in 1969 as a public institution in charge of organising and managing the securities market, as well as making it easier for companies to find new capital, and encouraging the investment of savings in securities.
In January 1987, a structural adjustment programme was launched and the legal framework of the financial market was modernised in 1988 (Bonds, Mutual Funds). In 1989, a new law on capital markets introduced a call for public savings and endowed Tunis Stock Exchange with responsibility over investor protection.
1994 was a pivotal year which saw a reorganising law that split the Public TSE into a Public Regulator and a Private TSE. This reorganisation was supervised by the Ministry of Finance and equally owned by stock brokers. A Central Depository was also created. However, full dematerialisation was introduced in 2000.
50 years later, TSE, which joined the World Federation of Exchanges in 2018, is again on the cusp of further modernisation thanks to an ongoing project entitled ‘Assessment and recast of the legal and regulatory framework for capital markets’. The objective of the project is to create an enabling legal and regulatory environment that will support the development of financial markets in Tunisia, and bring it as close as possible to international standards.
To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the Tunis Stock Exchange organised the 1st edition of the Tunis Stock Exchange Forum. The main theme of this Forum was the attractiveness of the Tunis financial market and its financing of SMEs, as well as the economy in general.
The Forum was also an opportunity to honour the former managers of the country’s stock market institutions for their valuable contributions.
—By Lofti Khezami, Chief Communication Officer, Tunis Stock Exchange, courtesy WFE
