Capital markets authority

Capital Markets
What you need to know

This handbook forms part of the Authority’s public awareness campaigns, designed to
disseminate information to the public on the functioning, relevance and importance of Uganda’s capital markets. This issue gives an overview of what capital markets are and the role they play in
the development process.

Background
Uganda’s impressive economic growth is a result of the country’s reform process. The
government is committed to private sector -led growth, which necessitates adequate availability of investment capital. However, the shallow and under developed nature of the financial sector, is a The ultimate role of Uganda’s capital market is to provide alternate means of raising long term finance. Therefore, the government is encouraging the development of the capital markets industry as a way of generating long-term capital to promote sustainable growth, mobilise savings and broaden the availability of funds for investment purposes.
What is the Capital Markets Authority?
The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) was established in 1996 following the enactment of the Capital Markets Authority Act (Cap 84). It is a semi autonomous body responsible for promoting, developing and regulating the capital markets industry in Uganda, with the overall objectives of investor protection and market efficiency.

Other functions of the CMA include:
ƒ Advising Government on all policies concerning the development and operation of the ƒ Formulating guidelines for the proper conduct of the securities business in Uganda. ƒ Formulating guidelines and rules with regard to companies wishing to go public (sell ƒ The protection of investor interests. In its role as a regulator, the CMA oversees the activities of the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE), licensed intermediaries such as broker/dealers and investment advisors. CMA regulates the operation of Collective Investment Schemes.
What are Capital Markets?
Capital markets are similar to other markets such as Nakasero market, but differ in terms of the
products traded and their organisation. Capital markets deal with the trading of financial products such as company shares, bonds issued by governments or private companies, units in Collective Investment Schemes, debentures, commercial paper and notes. These financial products can also be referred to as securities and are generally traded on a stock (securities) exchange. In Uganda, the market where these securities are traded is called the Uganda Securities Exchange.
Investor Protection?
CMA protects all investors by setting rules and regulations that companies must meet before
approval to issue shares or debt instruments to the public and list on the Exchange, is granted. It examines and approves Prospectuses and information memoranda of all potential issuers. CMA ensures that listed companies disclose all material information including the company risk factors. The companies are subjected to scrutiny by CMA to ensure that they are sound.

What role do capital markets play in an economy?
Capital markets have an important role to play in stimulating economic development. The following are some of the examples: Capital markets help mobilise domestic savings, hence facilitating the reallocation of financial resources from dormant to more productive activities. Capital markets provide an avenue for the divestiture of State Owned Enterprises (SOE’s), whereby shares in these companies may be sold through the stock exchange (USE), allowing members of the public to participate in the ownership of these companies. The privatisation of SOE’s through a stock exchange helps to broaden the asset base by providing a means through which ordinary citizens can acquire a share in the country’s assets. Companies have the opportunity to raise long-term finance through equity and debt financing (issuing shares and bonds respectively) . Members of the public are given an opportunity to buy shares or bonds, providing them with an alternative method of investing their savings. Capital raised through the issue of shares, bonds or other instruments, can be invested by the company to expand production, invest in more efficient productive processes and improve competitiveness. Increased investment by companies will lead to employment expansion, income generation, and with a larger percentage of the population earning incomes, savings and consumption will increase resulting in a cycle of increased investment, increased production, enhanced economic growth and wealth creation. Through full disclosure requirements, companies are encouraged to observe better accounting and management practices, hence leading to greater transparency in the business sector and lower incidences of corruption. This will lead to good corporate governance.
Capital markets enhance the inflow of international capital when international investors
participate in debt and equity instruments.
What developments have taken place in Uganda’s Capital Markets Industry so far?
The capital markets industry in Uganda is still in its infancy. There are however, several equity and debt instruments listed and traded on the Exchange. Debt instruments in the form of corporate and government bonds are among those traded at the USE.
So far there are Seven listed companies:
ƒ Uganda Clays Limited (2000) ƒ British American Tobacco (2000) ƒ East African Breweries Limited (cross listing) (2001) ƒ Kenya Airways (cross listing) (2002) ƒ Bank of Baroda (2002) ƒ DFCU Limited ƒ The New Vision Printing and Publishing Co. Limited
The debt instruments include:
ƒ 4 Government bonds (2,3,5 and 10 year bonds) ƒ EADB Bond (UGX 10 Billion, redeemed) ƒ PTA Bank Bond (UGX 8.4 Billion, redeemed) ƒ UTL Bond (UGX 54 Billion, 24 Billion raised to date) The listing of the East African Breweries Ltd represented the first cross listing of shares in the East African region.
Other products have also been introduced namely the Collective Investment
Schemes that are aimed at pooling resources from small savers and investing them
in various assets thereby reducing risk and maximising returns.

How do companies benefit from capital markets?
A share issue allows companies to increase the equity base of the company and raise capital
without bearing the burden of interest payments associated with borrowed funds. Full disclosure requirements of a listing on the Exchange encourage companies to observe good business and management practices and ensure better corporate governance, benefiting not just the firm but the economy as a whole.
The public profile of the company is improved thus attracting greater business opportunities.

How do individuals benefit from capital markets
ƒ Capital markets provide an additional investment option through the purchase of ƒ Individuals are given the opportunity to diversify their investment risk. ƒ Capital markets also provide a savings avenue. ƒ Assists in future planning especially in participating in long term debt instruments ƒ Business ownership through shareholding in enterprises. ƒ Source of income through capital gains and dividend payments
Factors affecting capital market performance

The value of shares is determined by demand and supply during trading. If there are more buyers
than sellers, the price of the shares will tend to rise, and the reverse happens if sellers are more
than buyers. In other words, the price falls. The performance of a company will depend on a variety of factors, including the type of industry, the performance of the economy, and whether the company is affected by external factors such as world prices. Government policy will also affect the performance of companies ,as will movements in economic indicators. If bank interest rates on deposits are high, this may encourage the holding of savings in banks as opposed to investment on the Exchange. This would then result in less demand for shares and a decrease in the share price. The opposite would occur where interest rates on bank deposits were low with investors preferring to invest their savings on the Exchange, hence increasing the demand for shares and pushing up share prices. Other factors include the lack of knowledge and the low levels of savings, which translate into lack of liquidity in the market. Inflation rates affect investment decisions. The longer the investment time frame, the more important inflation will be in determining the ‘real value’ of the investment at the end of the term. Where inflation rates are high, generally sound and low risk investments such as fixed interest bank deposits may be subject to real losses because the interest rates may be lower than the inflation rate and the original capital will not be growing at the same rate as inflation. NOTE. The value of shares and income from holding shares can go up and down. 8th Floor, Jubilee Insurance Centre, Email:
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Disclaimer
This brochure is by no means a conclusive document. The Capital Markets Authority takes no responsibility for any consequences arising from decisions taken on the basis of the contents of

Source: http://www.cmauganda.co.ug/sites/default/files/downloads/publications_press%20release_Buying%20and%20Selling%20Shares%3B%20What%20you%20need%20to%20know.pdf