FEAS History

 

Inception

The Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges (FEAS) was established on 16 May 1995 in Istanbul with 12 founding members.

During the Extraordinary General Assembly Meeting of the Federation held on May 16, 2017 in Tehran, it was decided to move the Federation’s headquarter from Istanbul, Turkey to Yerevan, Armenia. With the majority of “for” and no “against” votes, the General Assembly elected Armenia as the new host country for the FEAS’s headquarter, after 22 years of operation in Turkey

Currently there are 30 members in the Federation: 20 full, 10 affiliate and 9 observers, 5 partners including post trade institutions, dealers associations and regional federations from 29 countries.

Need for a Regional Association

Due to the ripple effect of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the Soviet Union began disintegrating in the following months. So was Yugoslavia. Countries in the Eastern Bloc embraced liberal and sovereign policies. ​This trend followed a market-oriented approach in economic policies as it led to creating or restructuring stock exchanges in these countries.

The mushrooming of stock exchanges came with some strings attached which inferred lack of adequate knowledge on how to properly run a marketplace. There was an immediate need of obtaining professional knowledge towards the exchange of information and bilateral projects. The most convenient way by then to integrate into a regional or global association to closely interact with other peer exchanges.

However, the European Federation of Securities Exchanges was limiting its membership only to European Union members. The exchanges of the Middle East and Indian subcontinent did not belong to either FIBV (WFE) or a regional federation of their own. This gap paved the way for forming a regional association admitting members from the East and South Europe, Caucasus, Central Asia and the Middle East. 12 stock exchanges in the region created an alliance and gave birth to the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges in 1995. The founders are Amman Stock Exchange, Bratislava Stock Exchange, Central-Asian Stock Exchange (Kazakhstan), First Bulgaria Stock Exchange, Istanbul Stock Exchange, Karachi Stock Exchange, Ljubljana Stock Exchange, State Commodity Raw Materials Exchange (Turkmenistan), Tehran Stock Exchange, Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, Yerevan Stock Exchange and Zagreb Stock Exchange.


In 2023

FEAS  Launched the “Borsa City” Comic Strips book available in 4 languages: English, Armenian, Russian and Kazakh.

FEAS alongside with Regional Center for Sustainable Finance (RCSF), Financial Regulatory Authority FRA organized “Towards a More Sustainable Financial Systems” FEAS Meets.

FEAS alongside with Emerging Markets Investors Alliance (EMIA) organized “ESG Demands from an Investor’s Perspectives” webinar.

FEAS Celebrated 28th Anniversary of the foundation.

FEAS held 37th General Assembly Meeting in Yerevan, Armenia.

FEAS held flagship event “ConFEAS 2024” in Yerevan, Armenia, from June 15-16.

FEAS Announced the winners of the 6th Best Member Champions League Award among its Members’ top brokerage companies.

FEAS 10th Onsite training was hosted by Athens Stock Exchange and held in Athens on September 2023.

FEAS held 38th General Assembly Meeting in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

FEAS held 3rd Capital Market Talks event in Kazakhstan, hosted by the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange.

FEAS Published Annual Yearbook 2022, 4 quarterly Newsletters and Factsheets for Member Exchanges, 2 semi-annual Factsheets for Member Depositories.

In 2022

FEAS  Launched the “Borsa City” comic book available in 6 languages: English, Arabic, Armenian, Greek, Persian and Russian.

FEAS held the 8th online “Meet the Market” for the Omani Capital Market.

FEAS held the 63th Board Meeting and welcomed 4 new members and 1 observer among them: Uzbek Commodity Exchange as Full member, Baymarkets, Blockstation, Percival as Affiliate members and Central Asian Stock Exchange as an Observer.

In collaboration with UN SSE Initiative, IFC and CDP, FEAS held series of online workshops on Climate related Financial Disclosure topic,

FEAS held IR Workshop sessions with Investor relations association of Romania and Middle East.

FEAS held 35th General Assembly Meeting online via zoom.

FEAS Celebrated 27th Anniversary of the foundation.

FEAS 9th Onsite training was hosted by Kazakhstan Stock Exchange and held in Almaty on September 2022.

FEAS members TSETMC and KASE met to discuss technological solutions and collaboration opportunities.

FEAS 36th General Assembly Meeting was held in Cairo, Egypt

FEAS held 2nd Capital Market Talks hosted by the Egyptian Exchange.

FEAS held the 64th Board Meeting and welcomed Macedonian Stock Exchange as a Full Member.

FEAS Announced the winners of the 5th Best Member Champions League Award among its Members’ top brokerage companies.

FEAS Published Annual Yearbook 2021, 4 quarterly Newsletters and Factsheets for Member Exchanges, 2 semi-annual Factsheets for Member Depositories.

In 2021

FEAS started a new series of a special project called “Meet the Market with FEAS”

The 1st “Meet the Market with FEAS” virtual event was held with AMX and CDA in March.

FEAS held online meeting with members’ Marketing and PR specialists.

FEAS held 32nd General Assembly Meeting and elected new governance.

FEAS in cooperation with EBRD organized special IPO Workshops for its members.

The 2nd “Meet the Market with FEAS” virtual event was held with AIX and SSX in April.

The 3rd “Meet the Market with FEAS” virtual event was held with EGX and MCDR in May.

FEAS in cooperation with Euronext Academy organized and held special series of trainings.

The 4th “Meet the Market with FEAS” virtual event was held with members of Iranian capital market in July.

The 5th “Meet the Market with FEAS” virtual event was held with the Jordanian and Palestinian members  in September.

FEAS held 82nd Working Committee Meeting via Zoom.

The 6th “Meet the Market with FEAS” virtual event was held with KASE and RSET in October.

FEAS started new channel on Spotify.

FEAS held 33rd Extraordinary General Assembly Meeting in Yerevan, Armenia on November 11.

FEAS held first “Capital Market Talks” in Yerevan, Armenia on November 12.

The 7th “Meet the Market with FEAS” virtual event was held with ATHEX and BVB in November.

FEAS Announced the winners of the 4th Best Member Champions League Award among its Members’ top brokerage companies.

FEAS Announced about the release of a comic book.

In 2020

FEAS Spring Board meeting was held online.

FEAS launched a series of webinars amid pandemic.

FEAS Talks became online and weekly-published.

FEAS celebrated 25th Anniversary on 16 May.

FEAS launched a new website.

FEAS Onsite training was held online in September in collaboration with London Stock Exchange Group Academy and ATHEX Academy.

FEAS Working Committee previous projects’ reports became available to the public.

FEAS published a new series of factsheets.

FEAS 30th Annual General Assembly and 81th Working Committee meetings were held online on 18 November.

Sydney Stock Exchange was approved as a new full member and Iranian Institutional Investors Association was approved as a new affiliate member.

FEAS Announced the winners of the 3rd Best Member Champions League Award among its Members’ top brokerage companies.


In 2019

FEAS organized a special training program for Republican stock exchange Toshkent and capita market participants of Uzbekistan on April 8-9 Toshkent, Uzbekistan hosted by Republican stock exchange Toshkent.

FEAS Summer Board, General Assembly and Working Committee meetings were held on 13 June in Bucharest, Romania.

Muscat Clearing & Depository and Bourse Scot Limited were approved as new affiliate members.

FEAS organized ConFEAS2019 conference on which was held on 14 June in Bucharest, Romania and hosted by Bucharest Stock Exchange.

FEAS organized the 2nd Best Member Champions League Award among its Members’ top brokerage companies.

Eighth on-site training was hosted and organized by Iran Fara Bourse in Tehran, Iran.

FEAS organized special Project management training program for Iran Fara Bourse staff on 26-28 August in Tehran, Iran.

FEAS 28th Annual General Assembly and 80th Working Committee meetings were held on 23 October in Muscat, Oman.


In 2018

FEAS Spring Working Committee Meeting was held in 1 March in Muscat, Oman and hosted by Muscat Securities Market.

Boursa Kuwait, Misr for Central Clearing, Depository and Registry (MCDR) and Astana International Exchange were approved as new full members.

Central Depository of Armenia (CDA) changed its status from affiliate to full member.

Moldova Stock Exchange was approved as a new observer.

Seventh on-site training was organized and hosted by The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) in Cairo, Egypt.

FEAS 26th General Assembly was held in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

FEAS organized first ConFEAS2018 conference which was held on October 29-30 in Abu Dhabi, UAE and hosted by Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.

MoU was signed between FEAS and ANNA (Association of National Numbering Agencies).

FEAS organized the first Best Member Champions League Award among its Members’ top brokerage companies.


In 2017

During the Extraordinary General Assembly Meeting held on May 16, 2017 in Tehran, it was decided to move the Federation’s headquarter from Istanbul, Turkey to Yerevan, Armenia.

Sixth on-site training was organized and hosted by Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The new charter and strategy of FEAS were approved during the 24th Annual General Assembly held in 1-3 November 2017, in Yerevan, Armenia.

Athens Exchange was approved as a new member.


In 2016

The Egyptian Exchange was elected to be the Chairing Member of FEAS.

Fifth on-site training was organized and hosted by Muscat Securities Market in Muscat, Oman.

Annual General Assembly took place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.


In 2015

Fourth on-site training was organized in Cairo, Egypt.

FEAS General Assembly was hosted by Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) in Isfahan, Iran.


In 2014

Third on-site training was organized in Istanbul.

An investor conference was conducted in London promoting FEAS SEE markets in co-operation with HSBC.

FEAS has new publications: Exchange Handbook, Best Practices for Investment Complaints and Exchange Interrelationships with Brokers.

Observer status for membership was created.

FEAS has a new chairmanship as Borsa Istanbul handed it over to Egyptian Exchange, Muscat Securities Exchange was elected as vice-chairman, Kazakhstan Stock Exchange took Working Committee Chair. Mustafa Baltacı was reappointed as the Secretary General.

Mid-year meetings were convened in Tbilisi, Georgia and annual meetings in Zagreb, Croatia.


In 2013

FEAS has a new logo displaying three regions coming together. The website as well as the statistical database is completely renewed and made user-friendly. Second on-site training program was hosted by Tehran Stock Exchange in Iran.

Investor Relations Task Force, SME Task Force and Surveillance Task Force were established.

Mid-year meetings were conducted in Sarajevo, Bosnia and annual meetings in Muscat, Oman.

Iran Mercantile Exchange, Iran Fara Bourse and African Securities Exchange Association (ASEA) were approved as new members.


In 2012

FEAS Statute was amended substantially to meet the needs of diversifying membership. The new structure defines members in four categories: full, affiliate, associate and bilateral membership.

A regional roadshow and exhibition was organized in Istanbul with the participation of exchanges, brokers and investors. Working Committee mandate was streamlined by dissolving some of the task forces and consolidating some of the projects.

First on-site training which brings selected young professionals from member institutions together for a rigorous two-week program was carried out in Istanbul.

Mid-year meetings were conducted in Istanbul and annual meetings in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Association of Futures Markets was approved as new member.


In 2011

Mustafa Baltacı took over the helm at the Secretariat from Arıl Seren.

Investable FEAS Blue Chip Index was launched.

Mid-year meetings took place in Ohrid, Macedonia, and annual meetings in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

ETS (Kazakhstan), Turkish Derivatives Exchange, South-Asia Federation of Exchanges (SAFE), Swiss Futures and Options Association (SFOA) and Arab Federation of Exchanges (AFE) were approved as new members.


In 2010

FEAS celebrated the 15th year with an exhibition in Istanbul.

Media Seminar, Environmental and Social Corporate Governance Workshop and UNPRI ESCG Seminar were organized. FEAS Corporate Movie was posted on the website.

Damascus Stock Exchange was approved as a new member.

Mid-year meetings took place in Dead Sea, Jordan and annual meetings in Istanbul.


In 2009

The FEAS/Dow Jones Index was launched. InterFeas magazine was introduced.

Association of Certified Capital Market Professionals (Jordan), Muscat Securities Market Brokers Association, Association of Capital Market Institutions of Turkey, Securities and Exchange Brokers Association Iran (SEBA) were approved as new members.

Mid-year meetings took place in Minsk, Belarus and annual meetings in Budva, Montenegro.


In 2008

A questionnaire for revenue-expense analysis of post trade services was prepared by Takasbank.

New criteria for membership to FEAS was enforced.

Mid-year meetings took place in Baku, Azerbaijan and annual meetings in Abu Dhabi, UAE.


In 2007

Affiliate Task Force meeting was held in Belgrade and Media Meeting in Istanbul. Dow Jones Indices and FEAS signed a joint marketing agreement.

Rules & Regulations Task Force was established.

SDC Jordan was approved as member.

Mid-year meetings took place in Kiev, Ukraine and annual meetings in Belgrade, Serbia.


In 2006

Media Training Programs were organized in Oman, Kyrgyz Republic, Bosnia and Egypt. Corporate Governance Task Force meetings were held in Bucharest and Istanbul.

Affiliate Task Force studied and drafted ‘Global Recommendations and Standards on Clearing and Settlement issues’. Research and Development Task Force was created to create awareness on listing of investment grade equities in the region with emphasis on privatization of large cap businesses on the stock market.

Belarusian Currency and Stock Exchange, Central Securities Depository of Iran and Central Registry Agency of Turkey (MKK) were approved as new members.

Mid-year meetings took place in Chisinau, Moldova and annual meetings in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.


In 2005

Media Roundtable was organized in Istanbul with the objective of drawing up of a basic draft curriculum to be instructed by a group of trainers at the participating members’ countries.

Joint meetings were organized with OECD on corporate governance.

Bahrain Stock Exchange, Iraq Stock Exchange, Montenegro Stock Exchange, Macedonia Central Securities Depository, Misr for Central Clearing Depository Registry (MCDR) and Istanbul Settlement and Custody Bank (Takasbank) were approved as new members.

Mid-year meetings took place in Tbilisi, Georgia and annual meetings in Shiraz, Iran.


In 2004

Abu Dhabi Securities Market, Banja Luka Stock Exchange, Belgrade Stock Exchange and Sarajevo Stock Exchange were approved as new members.

Mid-year meetings took place in Istanbul and annual meetings in Zagreb, Croatia


In 2003

A cooperative effort between FEAS and the World Bank was developed to organize high level training for capital market participants in the region.

A complete review and update of the FEAS Rule Book was conducted.

Bucharest Stock Exchange was approved as the new member.

Mid-year meetings took place in Istanbul and annual meetings in Sofia, Bulgaria.


In 2002

A brand new website and newsletter are published.

Bilateral Initiatives Project started with Amman Stock Exchange and Zagreb Stock Exchange visiting Istanbul Stock Exchange. Such project enabled a platform for FEAS members to visit another one to exchange information and experience.

Armenian Stock Exchange was approved as new member.

Mid-year meetings took place in Baku, Azerbaijan and annual meetings in Kiev, Ukraine.


In 2001

The Technology Working Committee held the first IT seminar.

Baku Stock Exchange and Muscat Securities Market were approved as new members.

Both mid-year meetings and annual meetings were conducted in Istanbul.


In 2000

Under Marketing Committee, it was decided to create a space for advertising on the web page and also have a cd with information about FEAS and its members. FEAS Newsletter was re-designed to include more statistics and provide supplements for special events and quarterly reports.

Georgia Stock Exchange and Palestine Exchange were approved as new members.

Mid-year meetings took place in Istanbul, Turkey and annual meetings in Skopje, Macedonia


In 1999

The OECD PSD Working Group Meeting on Capital Market Development was held in Istanbul. This group began preparation for a report on institutional and operational requirements for developing domestic capital markets.

Subgroup Meeting of the Stock Exchanges on the SECI Project “Cooperation among Securities Markets” was held in Istanbul.

Mid-year meetings took place in Istanbul and annual meetings in Amman, Jordan.


In 1998

Marketing Committee was established covering marketing strategy/development, annual report/ publications and training programs, with the purpose of increasing the awareness for the region.

BBVB (Baku Interbank Currency Exchange), CASE (Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchange), Kuwait Stock Exchange and Mongolian Stock Exchange were approved as new members.

Annual meetings and mid-year meetings both took place in Istanbul, Turkey.


In 1997

Macedonia Stock Exchange, Moldova Stock Exchange, Tirana Stock Exchange, Kyrgyz Stock Exchange, Lahore Stock Exchange and Toshkent Republican Stock Exchange were approved as members.


In 1996

Rules and Regulations and Technology Working Committees were set up. Under such committees, Corporate Governance, Surveillance Operations, Insider Trading task forces were assigned. Trainings and seminars were organized by the Istanbul Stock Exchange. Board members convened in Istanbul.