An initiative in support of the stock market is facing difficulty in implementation, Nesma Nowar reports Last week, mobile text messages circulated across the country, calling upon Egyptians to invest a minimum of LE100 in the stock market as soon as it opens, in order to prevent it from collapsing. The initiative urged the public to contact their local bank and contribute to the bank's mutual fund, a professionally managed type of collective investment scheme the bank uses to invest in the stock market, without the need to have a code or go through complicated regulations. The initiative also targeted Egyptians living abroad to invest in the Egyptian stock market through a Facebook group. One of the people behind this initiative said the main aim is to support and help save Egypt's economy during this tough time, adding that she did not expect the response to be so widespread. "I am shocked by the huge demand to invest to contribute to the initiative," the source told Al-Ahram Weekly on condition of anonymity . However, the source added that there are some problems facing the initiative's implementation, as her personal experience testifies. She went to one of the banks and found long queues as citizens rushed to banks, after two weeks of closure, to pick up their salaries and withdraw from their deposits. "There were long queues and I did not know where I should go in order to invest in the bank's mutual fund as no one was there to give any instructions," she said. She urged bank managers in Egypt to assist people wishing to contribute to the banks' mutual fund by specifying an exclusive queue or desk, designating one or two employees to exclusively assist interested citizens, and providing information to customers on this service through mobile phone messages, call centres and public advertising through the mass media. But one source at Crédit Agricole Bank said that the queues vary according to the location of each branch. He noted that there is a significant demand from customers to invest in the stock market. "This gesture would definitely support the stock market and our customers could easily participate through our mutual fund," the source said. In addition, Banque Du Caire has launched a campaign entitled "For Egypt's Sake" which aims at supporting the stock market and assisting all citizens who are interested to invest in the stock market. The bank has also set up a hotline (16990) to deal with inquiries. Some brokerage firms also announced their willingness to facilitate the process for small investors who want to open their own accounts to trade in the stock market. However, Hassan Samir, managing director at Global Capital Securities, a brokerage firm, believes that the environment now is not at all stable. "For the time being, I cannot receive any applications as instability exists and I can not guarantee anything to customers," he said. He stated that, regularly, accounts can be opened by filling an application form and attaching a copy of the identification document (ID) to it. The account is then opened the next day. "However, currently this is not applicable and procedures can take longer." In the meantime, Samir said that once the stock market becomes stable, firms would do their best to help small investors as the main aim is to pump huge amounts of money into the stock market and keep business going.
