MARKET INFORMATION
Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE)
http://www.bse.com.lb/

 

Trading Hours

Pre-opening session

09:00 – 09:30

Continuous Trading

09:30 – 12:30

Close

12:30

Time Zone

Summer

GMT+3

Trading Days

Monday – Friday

 

Winter

GMT+2

Trading Currency

US Dollar (USD)

 

Main Index

Blom Stock Index (BSI) is a market cap weighted index that includes all the listed companies on exchange.

Reuters code

.BLSI

Bloomberg code

BLOM

Exchange Code

Reuters code

BY

Bloomberg code

LB

Trading ID/ Trading Requirements

Shareholder ID

Settlement Cycle

T+3

Current Index Status

MSCI FM no FTSE classification

Market Cap

$18.6 bn
Average Daily Value Traded
YearAVG VALUE TRADED
2022 $2.2mn
2023 $1.9mn
MARKET DYNAMICS

Stock Limit
Up/Down


+/-15%

for Solidere A & B

 +/-10%

for all other stocks

USD Tick Size



Price Range

Tick
Size

From

To

Below 49.99

0.01

50.00

99.99

0.05

100

499.99

0.10

500 and above

0.50

Board
Lot


No Board Lots.

Crosses


Crossing can be done in market spread during the regular trading hours

Off- Market
Crosses


There is a market for block trades with the following criteria:
1) Value of the trade should at least be USD 250,000 in Solidere A/B, USD 100,000 for the banks and USD 50,000 for all the other stocks.
2) Regulatory approval must be obtained one day before trading
3) Double commission is charged.
4) Trading hours from 9:00 - 9:29

Official
Closing Price


VWAP of the last five trades before close.

Iceberg
Orders


Available

MARKET REGULATIONS
Foreign Ownership Restriction
Foreign investors may own up to 100% of any stock except SOLA and SOLB
10%
FOL is applied
Disclosure Rules
At 5% ownership of any listed company and at every additional 1% ownership,
a disclosure is required and before reaching 5% ownership of any bank, the
Central Bank approval is required.
Securities Lending
Not permitted
Short selling
Not permitted
Crossing Restrictions
Same NIN crossing is not permitted
Timeline for New NIN Setup
none.
There are two different shareholder IDs for trading; one for trading Solidere A/B and another one for trading all other stocks listed.
Failing Trades
Sales: subject to a buy-in on T+4 if trade fails to settle by 12:30pm (local time) on T+3

Purchases: subject to a sell-out on T+4 if trade fails to settle by 12:30pm (local time) on T+3

Buy-in/Sell-out takes place on the normal market screens
MARKET FEES & TAXES
Market Fees 36% of what the local broker charges goes to the market
Withholding Tax None
Capital Gain Tax None 
Dividend Tax 5%