13 Apr, 2016DFM and Nasdaq Dubai launch Annual Trading Game for students between 26 April and 10 May 2016

• Hamed Ali: "Nasdaq Dubai is committed to positive interaction with students, to explain its role in the capital markets and to understand the views of the new generation of investors"

• Jamal Al Khadhar: "The competition enables students to gain knowledge and showcase their skills as well as test their academic knowledge in a virtual trading environment"

Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and Nasdaq Dubai today announced that the 14 round of the Annual Trading Game for students, the most popular educational competition amongst school and university students in the UAE and beyond, will run between 26 April and 10 May 2016. The game comprises trading equities and, for the first time, equity derivatives as well.

The competition underlines both exchanges’ commitment to jointly promote financial knowledge and sharpen the skills and capabilities of the newer generations, as well as help students to link their academic knowledge with the practical side of the capital markets.

It is noteworthy that 24 April is the last day of registration. DFM and Nasdaq Dubai are collaborating with educational institutions to explain how the competition works to students and their supervisors through a series of workshops. These workshops play a pivotal role in attracting growing number of participants yearly.

This year’s round includes various valuable additions including the launch of a new fast and effective website for the competition as well as enabling the trading of equity futures, which enable investors to buy or sell on a future date. Each contestant will receive a virtual AED one million to buy and sell shares listed on DFM and Nasdaq Dubai, based on live prices displayed through the electronic website during trading hours. The winners of the competition will be those who achieve the highest virtual returns. The top player will receive a cash prize of AED 15,000, while second place wins AED 10,000 and third place AED 5,000. Each winner between 4th-13th places will receive AED 1,000. Additionally, the educational institution with the largest number of participants as well as students conducting the largest number of transactions will be honored during the closing ceremony of the competition. The Annual Trading Game has attracted 25,000 participants from 307 educational institutions during the previous 13 rounds, while the total value of prizes has reached AED 520,000.

Hamed Ali, Chief Executive Officer of Nadaq Dubai said: "Nasdaq Dubai is committed to positive interaction with students, both to explain its role in further developing the region’s capital markets and to understand the views and opinions of the new generation of investors. The trading game is an excellent way to extend our cooperation and dialogue with the student community as we accelerate our preparations to open an equity futures market on the exchange. As the Middle East capital markets become ever more sophisticated, these instruments are set to play an increasingly vital role in the strategies of many investors."

Jamal Al Khadhar, Executive Vice President, Head of Strategic Planning and Human Resources Division, DFM, who has supervised the competition since its inception in 2003, said: "Through its momentous journey, DFM has been actively promoting financial knowledge and participating in sharpening the skills of new generations through numerous initiatives in cooperation with educational institutions. The Annual Trading Game is one of our leading initiatives as we are motivated to play an active role in nurturing a knowledgeable generation in the financial markets and investment sector. The competition enables students to gain knowledge and showcase their skills as well as test their academic knowledge in a virtual trading environment. We are committed to organize this competition annually due to its constant success as a key educational element in many schools and universities. We continuously develop the competition by introducing new features and we are delighted to cooperate with Nasdaq Dubai to offer participants the opportunity to virtually trade derivatives as well as equities. We are also pleased to launch the new website of the competition, which employs advanced technologies and provides participants with an efficient trading platform."