ABU DHABI - Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), one of the largest financial markets in the Middle East, announced today that it has selected the ICE Global Network from Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology and market infrastructure, to offer direct market access to global institutional investors, a first initiative of its kind for a financial market in the Middle East.

By leveraging the ICE Global Network, ADX aims to expand its global investor base by facilitating real-time access to market data and order entry.

With hubs located around the world, the ICE Global Network offers high-quality content, delivery and execution services through ultra-secure, highly resilient fibre and wireless networks. The addition of ADX to ICE Global Network leverages ICE’s previous work in the region partnering with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to create ICE Futures Abu Dhabi, and brings greater and simpler accessibility to local markets.

“ADX’s collaboration with ICE Global Network, widely used by financial institutions and trading firms around the world, aligns with our strategic goal to enhance connectivity in the market and demonstrates our commitment to facilitating access for global investors in Europe, Asia and the US to one of the world’s fastest-growing markets,” said Abdulla Salem Al Nuaimi, Chief Executive Officer of ADX. “The strengthening of Abu Dhabi’s dynamic capital market will serve to support the long-term sustainable growth of the UAE economy and the exchange will continue to explore partnerships that support both regional and global connectivity as well as a deeper and more liquid market.”

The ICE Global Network provides banks, asset managers, hedge funds and other market participants with direct market access to data and execution services from over 150 exchanges and marketplaces around the world. Its managed services provide customers with end-to-end hosting, hardware procurement, connectivity and support through a single ICE Global Network solution, and cloud offerings provide new, flexible ways to access data around the world.

“Our network was designed to connect investors with marketplaces and opportunities globally and our work with ADX is a perfect match for that purpose,” said Margaret Niche, Head of ICE Global Network. “The ICE Global Network offers a portfolio of solutions for low latency data delivery that connects firms around the world and is part of our global data business which provides multi-asset market data and analytics, desktop solutions, hosting and connectivity that provide greater market transparency and helps our customers manage risk in evolving markets.”

ADX has recently witnessed significant activity, which has seen increased participation from international and institutional investors, including in IPOs, listings and new product launches. This year, ADX listed 13 securities, including three IPOs that attracted significant global demand and raised over US$5.4 billion. With the recent listings of ADNOC Gas ($2.5 billion), Presight AI ($500 million), and ADNOC LS ($769 million) the Exchange is once again at the forefront of the Mena IPO market in 2023.