DOHA: Expatriates who had applied for their Investor Number at the Doha Securities Market (DSM) recently but were not issued one, may now directly approach any of the nine stockbrokers located on the first and second floor of the DSM to obtain them, sources at the bourse, said here yesterday. The Investor Number is vital for expatriates and foreign nationals who are interested in trading in Qatari stocks since the DSM opened to them from April 3.
Prospective expatriate investors had first to obtain the Investor Number and then open a stock trading account at any of the four banks or five companies that have been registered as stockbrokers to deal in shares of Qatari companies. The sudden surge in the number of applications before April 3 caused a delay in the processing of applications from expatriates for such numbers. However, DSM staff are now working daily after 2.30pm to ensure that the maximum number of such applicants were issued an Investor Number that would facilitate them to trade with shares of the listed Qatari companies.
As a result of this delay, several potential expatriate and foreign investors were unable to buy stocks listed on the DSM on the first day when it opened to them, earlier this week, though several of them turned up at the bourse since 8am on April 3 to get a first hand view of the action. Several expatriates have also sought Investor Numbers for their spouses and kids, it was learnt. According to sources, most of the applicants will be issued an Investor Number shortly and only those who would be left out were ones whose application forms were incomplete for any reason.
© The Peninsula 2005
