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  • UG-A UG-A Introduction

    • UG-A.1 UG-A.1 Purpose

      • Executive Summary

        • UG-A.1.1

          The Central Bank of Bahrain ('the CBB'), in its capacity as the regulatory and supervisory authority for Bahrain's financial markets, issues regulatory instruments that CBB licensees and other specified persons are legally obliged to comply with. These regulatory instruments are contained in the CBB Rulebook. Much of the Rulebook's substantive content was previously issued by the Bahrain Monetary Agency ('the BMA'), and was carried forward when the CBB replaced the BMA in September 2006.

        • UG-A.1.2

          The Rulebook is divided into 7 Volumes, covering different areas of financial services activity. These Volumes are being progressively issued. Volumes 1 and 2, covering conventional bank licensees and Islamic bank licensees respectively, were issued in July 2004 and January 2005; Volume 3, covering insurance licensees, was issued in April 2005; and Volume 4 (covering investment firm licensees), issued in April 2006. Volume 5 (covering specialised licensees) and Volume 6 (capital markets) are being issued progressively. Volume 7 on collective investment undertakings (CIUs) was issued in May 2012.

          Amended: April 2013

        • UG-A.1.3

          This User's Guide provides guidance on (i) the status and application of the Rulebook, with specific reference to Volume 6 (Capital Markets); (ii) the structure and design of the Rulebook; and (iii) its maintenance and version control.

        • UG-A.1.4

          Volume 6 (Capital Markets) covers the regulation and supervision of Bahrain's capital markets. When complete, it will include requirements dealing with (i) the offering and listing of securities; (ii) the authorisation and supervision of exchanges (notably the Bahrain Bourse); and (iii) capital market behaviour (such as insider dealing and market abuse, and the conduct of mergers and acquisitions of listed companies). Collectively, these requirements aim to ensure transparent and orderly markets, which help protect the rights of investors and shareholders, whilst enabling an attractive environment for those seeking to raise capital.

          Amended: April 2013

        • UG-A.1.5

          Capital market participants should note that the requirements contained in Volume 6 of the CBB Rulebook are additional to those contained in other Rulebook Volumes. Thus, market participants licensed as investment firms (for example) are required to comply with their license requirements contained in Volume 4, in addition to requirements contained in Volume 6 that apply to their capital markets activities.

      • Legal Basis

        • UG-A.1.6

          This Module contains the CBB's Directive (as amended from time to time) regarding the User's Guide for Volume 6 of the CBB Rulebook, and is issued under the powers available to the CBB under Article 38 of the Central Bank of Bahrain and Financial Institutions Law 2006 ('CBB Law'). The Directive in this Module is applicable to all CBB licensees (including their approved persons) that undertake relevant capital markets activity (as specified in the Scope of Application Chapters contained in each Volume 6 Module).

          Amended: April 2013

        • UG-A.1.7

          The contents of this Module are also included in Regulations, to be issued by the CBB, by virtue of which they are applicable to non-CBB licensees that also undertake relevant capital markets activity (as specified in the Scope of Application Chapters contained in each Volume 6 Module).

        • UG-A.1.8

          For an explanation of the CBB's rule-making powers and different regulatory instruments, see Section UG-1.1.

    • UG-A.2 UG-A.2 Module History

      • UG-A.2.1

        This Module was first issued in April 2007, as part of the first phase of Volume 6 (Capital Markets) to be released. Any material changes that have subsequently been made to this Module are annotated with the calendar quarter date in which the change was made: Chapter UG-3 provides further details on Rulebook maintenance and version control.

      • UG-A.2.2

        A list of recent changes made to this Module is provided below:

        Module Ref. Change Date Description of Changes
        UG-A.1 and UG-2.1 04/2013 Various amendments to update evolution of CBB Rulebook.
        UG-1.1.3 04/2013 Updated reference to membership rules of exchanges.
        UG-3.2 and Annex 04/2013 Amended as CBB Rulebook only now available on CBB Website.
        UG-3.2.2 04/2020 Amended Paragraph.

      • UG-A.2.3

        Guidance on the implementation and transition to Volume 6 (Capital Markets) is given in Module ES (Executive Summary).