[Last updated: 1 January 2024, unless otherwise noted]

To qualify for listing on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX), an Egyptian issuer must typically meet the following requirements:

• Issued capital must be fully paid, and may not be less than EGP100 million (approx. US$3.23 million), or its equivalent in foreign currency.
• The net profits of the issuer (before tax deductions and generated from carrying out the activities of the issuer in accordance with its objective as contained in the bylaws) for the fiscal year preceding the listing may not be less than 5% of the issued capital, subject to certain exceptions that may be approved by the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA).

  In addition to the general standards described above, a foreign issuer must also satisfy the following criteria:

• If seeking a listing of Egyptian depository receipts (EDRs), submit an application for the approval of the FRA for issuance of Egyptian depository receipts (EDRs), with a nominal value of at least EGP100 million (approx. US$3.23 million), or its equivalent in another currency.

If seeking a share listing, the capital of the foreign issuer to be listed must be at least US$100 million (or in the case of small and medium sized companies, US$10 million).

[Last updated: 1 January 2024, unless otherwise noted]

Public subscription notice. A listing and offering of foreign securities in Egypt would require a public subscription notice to be approved by FRA and published in Arabic for local use.

Free float. A listing of EDRs/foreign shares generally requires a free float of 5% of the total EDRs/foreign shares of the issuer, whilst a listing of domestic shares generally requires a free float of no less than 10% of the total shares of the issuer, with a market value of at least EGP100 million (approx. US$3.23 million) at the time of the offering.

EDR holders / shareholders. There must be at least 150 EDR holders / shareholders after the offering in the case of a listing of EDRs/foreign shares, and 300 shareholders in the case of a listing of domestic shares.

Accounting Standards: In general Egyptian Accounting Standards are required. However, International Accounting Standards and US Accounting Standards are acceptable for foreign issuers.

Financial statements. Generally, the applicant must submit audited annual financial statements, including the company report, for the last two fiscal years and the auditor reports. The applicant may further be required to provide interim set of accounts for part of the current financial year.

Local representative. A listing of foreign shares would require appointment of a local legal representative who must be well informed about the issuer to respond to inquiries of the EGX, FRA, shareholders and related parties.

Foreign stock exchange listing. Shares subject to EDRs/foreign shares must be listed on one of the foreign stock exchanges that is supervised by a supervisory body having a role and authorities similar to those of FRA.

[Last updated: 1 January 2024, unless otherwise noted]

The following is a fairly typical process and timetable for a listing of a foreign issuer on the EGX.

Link to Timetable

[Last updated: 1 January 2024, unless otherwise noted]

Requirements for listed companies include:

• Audit committee and its composition.
• Insider trading and price manipulation rules and sanctions apply to listed companies.
• Annual and periodic disclosures and reporting requirements to both the EGX and FRA of financial statements.
• Disclosure and reporting requirements to both the EGX and FRA of corporate resolutions (such as board meetings and shareholders meetings).
• Disclosure and reporting requirements to both the EGX and FRA of material information and material events.
• Additional reporting may be required by the EGX and FRA.
• Appointment of certain officers to comply with the above requirements.

[Last updated: 1 January 2024, unless otherwise noted]

In general, a company seeking to list must pay initial fees and annual listing fees. Initial inspection and review fees are paid once at the time of listing and are divided as follows: (1) EGX fees, which generally include an inspection fee of 0.05% of the capital or issuance depending on the threshold, capped at a maximum EGP250,000 (approx. US$8,075); and (2) FRA fees comprising an inspection fee of 0.0002% of the total offering size. Annual listing fees are similarly divided into: (1) EGX fees, ranging from 0.002% to 0.00025% of the company's market capitalization, up to a maximum of EGP500,000 (approx. US$16,150), and (2) FRA fees, which are 0.0002% of the company's total annual revenue. The company may also have to pay an annual fee between EGP3,000 (US$96.90) to EGP10,000 (US$323) for publishing its financial statements on the EGX website, depending on the company's capital.