EU assists Azerbaijan in improving laws on securities
By Seymur Aliyev
A twinning project on bringing Azerbaijan's laws on securities into compliance with European Union legislation was presented in Baku on Thursday.
The EU will allocate about 1 million euros to finance the twinning project, titled "Bringing Azerbaijani legislation in the field of securities into accordance with Eurpean Union (EU) law and institutional development". The project, being implemented in Azerbaijan by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (PFSA) since October 2012, will continue until the end of May 2014.
"Azerbaijan has widely used European Union experience and support while drafting a bill on the securities market which is currently being discussed at government level," chairman of the State Securities Committee Rufat Aslanli said at the presentation.
According to Aslanli, the measures outlined in the state program on the development of the securities market in 2011-2020 are aimed at drastic reform of capital markets in Azerbaijan on the basis of new rules and principles.
As a result of these reforms, the country's securities market will become a reliable and long-term source of investment, particularly in the non-oil sector.
"Of course, market economy reforms should be accompanied by changes in the system of legal relations," he said. "From this point of view, the state program also aims to improve the regulatory framework of the securities market and increase professional training in the area of its use."
Aslanli said this twinning project provides an opportunity for the state committee to avail of international expertise in these two important areas of the state program.
"In general, the Azerbaijani government has been closely cooperating with the European Union to develop a market economy in the country, to support sustainable economic growth and to improve economic legislation," he said. "The securities market is one of the very intensive areas of cooperation."
EU Charge d'Affaires Toralf Pilz said at the presentation of the twinning project that the EU and Azerbaijan are preparing 10 new twinning projects.
"The EU has been allocating 7.6 million euros every year to implement twinning projects in Azerbaijan since 2006," he said. "Seven twinning projects have been successfully implemented. Ten projects are currently underway, with another 10 being prepared."
Pilz said the EU is cooperating with the Ministries of Taxes, Agriculture and Education, other Azerbaijani state bodies as well as the Ombudsman's office within the EU twinning projects.
He noted that twinning projects are not only about increasing knowledge, but also aim to strengthen the relations between Azerbaijan and the EU, which creates a guarantee for further reforms.
He said using the new law on the securities market in Azerbaijan will lead to further development of this sector and expansion of the use of banking and other financial services.
According to him, EU recommendations will be taken into account during its preparation to make domestic legislation compliant with the international one.
"Several technical assistance projects have been implemented. However, additional assistance is required. The project will be launched with the State Securities Committee."
The volume of transactions in the securities market of Azerbaijan in January-September 2012 was 8.2 billion manats (over $10.4 billion), which is 34 percent more than in the same period of last year, according to the state committee.