Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 27 / Trend N.Ismayilova /
The majority of banks operating in Azerbaijan are ready for operations in the Forex-OTC foreign exchange market, Azerbaijani Banks' Association (ABA) Eldar Ismayilov said on Monday.
Bank organizations will only implement Azerbaijan's market operations on the Forex-OTC foreign exchange market 2011 under the Central Bank of Azerbaijan's (CBA) decision.
"One should not expect major changes in this direction as the revitalization of the banks, however, a positive impact may be observed on the foreign exchange market in the country," he said. "Usually a new product does not bring instantly a lot of money, but over time, of course, will be more sustainable promotion of the product."
Ismayilov said the Azerbaijani banks will be gradually connected to the Forex market.
Azerbaijani State Securities Committee Chairman, Rufat Aslanli stressed that since the global financial crisis, the most pressing issue has become the regulation of financial markets and improving mechanisms for regulating these markets.
"This situation is not surprising as foreign exchange markets in other countries, like the Forex market in Azerbaijan, become a more regulated sector, and the transfer of responsibilities for the implementation of Forex transactions to banks would reduce systemic risks," Aslanli said. "I expect that this will make the currency market even more stable."
Banks, foundations, insurance and investment companies, large commercial firms and private individuals are all participants in this market. The fluctuation of currencies relative to each other stimulates interest in the market even though making a profit, unlike the stock market, is highly speculative.
Part of the interest in the Forex market stems from the fact that one could make a profit on both the growth or declining rate of currencies, given that their value at any point in time is relative and thus variable.
The MuganBank marketplace is the only platform in Azerbaijan working on Forex today. However, the country's largest bank - the International Bank of Azerbaijan, has already created a separate department to work in this direction.