Tests de usuarios: directrices para las webs móviles de diarios basadas en la evidencia

benevolence, freedom, equality, and high morals’. Articles 34153 and 35154 mention the public’s rights and duties. The current constitution provides two ways to propose new legislation. One is by the Shoura Council; the other is through the Cabinet of Ministers. However, the final draft must be approved by the Emir.155

1.9 Conclusion

This chapter discussed the aims and the benefits of the thesis and the methodology that the thesis will follow. The research will explore ways in which investors on the Kuwait Stock Exchange can be better protected against market abuse, irresponsible actions and poor corporate governance risks. This aim will be achieved by comparing the Kuwaiti 2010 Act with legislation in the GCC countries and, when necessary, with legislation enacted in some of the developed countries, such as the UK and the USA. The structure and the difficulties of the thesis have also been discussed. This research has faced three difficulties namely, a poor understanding of securities laws, poorly documented financial regulation in the GCC and the rapidly changing financial regulation during the course of this research.

This chapter has outlined the extent of the research in this thesis. In terms of financial markets, this research will focus on secondary stock exchange markets and in respect of financial products, it will look at the direct trading of shares in listed companies. In terms of investors, individual investors are the focus of this research. In terms of laws and regulations, it will focus on securities law and with regard to risk will discuss methods of protection against direct risks related to insider dealing as an example of market abuse, unfair disclosure and poor corporate governance.

153 _{Article 34 states: ‘The Citizens of Qatar shall be equal in public rights and duties’.}

154 _{Article 35 states: ‘All persons are equal before the law, and there shall be no discrimination}

whatsoever on grounds of sex, race, language, or religion’.

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This chapter has discussed the historical developments of the stock exchanges and their legal frameworks in Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. These countries lack a long history and experience with regard to the regulation of a stock exchange. After the Suq al-Manakh crisis, the Kuwaiti government recognised the need to regulate the stock market. It passed several laws to regulate the market, the latest of which was in 2010. The 2010 Act is a comprehensive law and created a single body (Kuwait Capital Market Authority) with the responsibility to regulate the market.

Before the discovery of oil, the GCC countries relied mainly on Shari’ah Islamic law. Thereafter, these countries tried to find a legal system that combined Shari’ah law and the Egyptian French model. Although Qatar, Saudi and Kuwait have different legal systems related to the material of this thesis, each has a special law for securities.

The next chapter will deal with the protection of individual investors under securities law.

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Chapter Two

The Concept of Protecting Investors under Securities Law

2.1 Introduction

This chapter aims to provide more detail about the aims and objectives of the thesis and to serve as a general background to the world of investor protection.

The concept of protecting investors under securities law has four elements: the investors, the securities, the securities law and the meaning of protecting investors. Each of these elements has many ramifications. Before looking at the subject of this thesis, an introduction to each of the elements will help to understand the thesis.

As mentioned in Chapter One, in this thesis investors are ordinary persons who try to ensure a good future for themselves and their families by improving their standard of living, obtaining a good education for their children and protecting the value of their savings. This type of investor differs from others in terms of the type of protection that is required.

To understand how securities law works one needs to appreciate what is meant by the term securities and that shares are only one type. Some countries regulate their financial systems with laws targeted at securities to complement other laws, such as company law and commercial law. Other laws can play a significant role in protecting investors and they will be mentioned later but will not be considered in detail in this thesis. This thesis will discuss the areas of protection and how to achieve such protection. However, there is no perfect way to protect investors on the stock exchange. This chapter will focus on four points. The first concerns investors. The second defines securities. The third defines securities law and the fourth is about the scope of the protection.

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In addition to clarifying the position of an investor in the financial markets, this chapter also mentions for the sake of completeness some non- securities specific legislation which contributes to investor protection but is too extensive to analyse in detail in the thesis.