MCB Bank delists from London Stock Exchange

Bank exits after issuing 8.6m GDRs worth $151m to investors

KARACHI: MCB Bank, one of the five big banks in Pakistan, has delisted itself from the London Stock Exchange after 11 years, helping the bank relax its financial reporting rules.

“Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) that are equivalent to 4 ordinary shares of MCB Bank Limited has been delisted from the London Stock Exchange,” the bank said in a notification to Pakistan Stock Exchange on Thursday.

MCB was the first Pakistani bank to be part of the international bourse; it was listed at the London Stock Exchange in October 2006.

The bank issued 8.6 million GDRs worth $151 million to institutional investors. Foreign investors were allowed to convert GDRs into ordinary shares and vice-versa.

The other Pakistani companies listed at the global bourse include Oil and Gas Development Company and United Bank Limited.

The listings at the foreign bourses helped the country attract over $1.5 billion on account of portfolio investment from October 2006 to June 2007, it was learnt.

The listing at a foreign bourse usually bind global companies to adopt international financial reporting standards, which are believed to be tougher than the one implemented at local levels.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Stock Exchange had a rough ride on Thursday after entering the MSCI emerging market status.

After almost a year of waiting and anticipation over Pakistan’s reclassification, stocks bled on the first day of inclusion in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, with the KSE-100 Index suffering an intra-day fall of over 2,230 points for its biggest decrease in history, in terms of points.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 2^nd, 2017.

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