Tirana Stock Exchange (TSE) has been closed down, without having any company listed and without trading any securities throughout its life of 12 years, failing in its facility to create a capital market in Albania.
According to sources from the Ministry of Finance, after being left three months to find the revenue itself for the smooth running of the activity, the closing paper has recently been signed. Tirana Stock Exchange was established in 2002 in the form of a joint stock company and has functioned in accordance with the provisions of Law No.9901 date. 14.04.2008 “On Traders and Companies” and Law No.9879 dated 21.02.2008 “On Securities”.
The object of the Tirana Stock Exchange was to create a capital or securities market by creating a trading system by which “offers for sale, purchase or exchange of securities are performed or received on a regular basis; the offer or requirements are regularly filed when there are predetermined or expected offers or requests that result directly or indirectly in the making or receipt of bids for the sale, purchase or exchange of securities; or information is regularly provided regarding the prices and rewards that special people or groups propose or expect to sell, buy or exchange securities “.
Why did not the stock exchange work?
While in other countries of the region, the capital market development was supported by the state, with many countries that realized the sale of state-owned enterprises through securities, in Albania the chosen form of privatization was through auctions, tenders, or privatization bonds. On the other hand, the domestic business was reluctant to move to a higher stage, that of securing funding through public bidding on the stock market, as high informality (two-balance sheet work, which brought the non-declaration of income) was another barrier for companies to turn to the stock market.
The only hope for Albanian companies to provide funding through the capital market is the plan for a regional stock exchange. Tirana Stock Exchange has been active only for a short time after 2002, being the government agency on the securities secondary market, but this function was also passed to the Bank of Albania.