In 1997, the Government of Mozambique, through the Ministry of Planning and Finance, set up the "Steering Committee of the Mozambique Stock Exchange", whose mission was to promote the organisation of the capital market in Mozambique, namely at the level of setting up the necessary institutional and legal structures and, as well as the establishment of a Stock Exchange, a structure which was thought to be the most appropriate in order to give shape to the functioning of an organised secondary market of securities.
Although the period deemed necessary for the structuring of the stock exchange elapsed, the Steering Committee had been vested with enough powers for the organisation of the activities of the Stock Exchange in order to enable its proper functioning. In addition to that, it was also equipped with the necessary financial resources, provided by both the Mozambican Government and the World Bank.
As a result of the activities developed by the Steering Committee, the Council of Ministers approved the legal instruments for the operation of the Mozambique Stock Exchange (BVM), especially Decrees 48/98 and 49/98, dated September 22, namely the Regulation of the Securities Market and on the Establishment of the Mozambique Stock Exchange and its Internal Regulation.
Mozambique Stock Exchange is a legal entity of public law, with the nature of a public institute, endowed with administrative, financial and patrimonial autonomy. BVM is responsible for the creation and maintenance of premises and systems equipped with the necessary means for the operation of a free and open market for the purchase and sale of securities. BVM also provides registration, clearing, settlement and disclosure services of sufficient and timely information on the transactions carried out.
Note that BVM is composed of the Board of Directors (comprised of at least three members and a maximum of five members appointed by the Minister of Finance, one of whom is proposed, albeit with a non-binding nature, by the Stock Exchange operators) and Supervisory Board (comprised of 3 members, appointed by order of the Minister of Finance, of whom one presides the board).
At the level of the Stock market, in addition to the "brokerage firms" and the "financial brokerage companies", the financial intermediation activity, under Law 15/99 of November 01 (regulating the establishment and activities of Credit Institutions and Financial Companies), can be developed by credit institutions. However, only financial intermediaries that become stockbrokers may trade directly on the Stock Exchange.
The securities market supervisory board is the Bank of Mozambique, to which various duties, as provided for in article 4 of Decree 48/98 of September 22, can be attributed, in addition to matters attributed to it by Law.
Moreover, the way in which the market is organised and structured, namely the duties of intermediaries in the execution of any operations and provision of other services, professional secrecy to which financial intermediaries abide by, the reporting obligations imposed on the issuers and to the Stock Exchange itself, the regime applicable to crimes and misdemeanours in the market, and finally, the nature of the Bank of Mozambique's duties, create the necessary conditions for the effective functioning of the market, according to high standards of integrity, regularity, normality and transparency.
It should be stressed that in the course of its activities, Mozambican Stock Exchange complies with and enforces the existing legislation and regulations, which establish a range of mechanisms aimed at establishing effective means for investor protection. This is the case, in particular, of all legal provisions regarding the information to be provided by the entities with listed securities, as well as the conditions of the operations and, in particular, the conditions for the exercise of Financial intermediation activity.
On the other hand, Mozambique Stock Exchange has actively developed a set of tasks in the context of investor support, in particular private investors, namely in the provision of clarifications related to market intervention and exercise of rights.