The stock market is supported by a set of institutions that ensure the protection of investors in securities:
It is responsible for safeguarding savings invested in securities. In this capacity, it oversees the organization of the markets and ensures their proper functioning to prevent manipulations that could disrupt market integrity. It is also responsible for monitoring financial information and sanctioning any breaches or violations of applicable regulations.
The protection of savings invested in securities is ensured by the CMF through the following means:
- Granting approval for prospectuses related to public offerings of securities
- Supervising stock market operations
- Monitoring brokerage firms and collective investment schemes
- Overseeing financial disclosure and transparency
- Ensuring compliance with and enforcement of regulations
- Receiving and investigating complaints from investors and licensed entities
- Imposing sanctions in cases of regulatory violations.
- The cash settlement (for the buyer) and the delivery of securities (for the seller) are carried out simultaneously on T+2.
- The settlement is performed by the central depository: Tunisie Clearing.
The Securities and Financial Products Market Client Protection Fund provides protection to clients against non-commercial risks. The intervention of the fund is subject to the Financial Market Council’s determination of a brokerage firm’s default.
Non-commercial risks are defined as failures by a brokerage firm to meet its obligations regarding:
- The restitution of funds deposited with or transferred to it on behalf of clients, for any reason whatsoever;
- The payment of sums resulting from the trading of securities following an order transmitted in accordance with applicable regulations;
- The payment of sums resulting from a transaction registered with the Tunis Stock Exchange that were paid or transferred to it by its counterparty;
- The delivery of securities following a trade;
- The delivery of securities following a transaction registered with the Tunis Stock Exchange that were delivered to it by its counterparty;
- The restitution of publicly issued securities recorded in clients’ accounts.
- It was established to ensure the proper completion of transactions.
- It acts as a counterparty between brokerage firms to eliminate potential defaults among them.
- The fund is financed through their respective contributions.
To ensure greater transparency for investors, stock market regulations require shareholders of a listed company whose holdings exceed certain thresholds set by law to make a disclosure. Thus, any shareholder whose ownership in the capital of a listed company reaches or exceeds the thresholds of 5%, 10%, 20%, 33.33%, 50%, or 66.66% must declare the crossing of one or more of these thresholds to the company concerned, the Financial Market Council (CMF), and the Tunis Stock Exchange. Failure to comply with this obligation results in the suspension of the shareholder’s voting rights.
Persons discharging managerial responsibilities within the issuer, as well as persons closely associated with them, must notify the Financial Market Council, the Tunis Stock Exchange, and the issuer within three trading days of execution of any significant transactions involving the acquisition, disposal, subscription, or exchange of securities issued by the said issuer for their own account.