Since its establishment twenty years ago, the Palestine Capital Market Authority has placed the development of capital market sectors at the forefront of its legislative, supervisory, and regulatory priorities. The PCMA has diligently regulated, licensed, and monitored the components of the non-banking financial sectors under its supervision with high efficiency, despite the difficult political and economic conditions faced by the State of Palestine. The PCMA has achieved many significant accomplishments and maintained the stability and continuity of these sectors. Its supervisory activities have kept pace with best practices and international standards, reinforcing its position as an effective regulatory body.
I am pleased to present to you the twentieth annual report of the PCMA, which includes sector performance results, and the most important activities carried out by the PCMA during the past year. On the legislative level, the PCMA issued several decisions aimed at regulating the market, such as approving a policy for establishing companies to engage in securities-related activities. There is no doubt that the legislative and policy framework developed by the PCMA is intended to enhance the regulatory and developmental environment of the capital market sectors.
On the organizational level, the Board of Directors of the Capital Market Authority, during the year 2024, granted licenses to several companies to operate in unregulated foreign exchanges. This is part of the PCMA’s regulation of this sensitive sector and its efforts to expand the official financial sector at the expense of the informal sector. On the developmental front, the PCMA focused its recent efforts on achieving government-set objectives, particularly digital transformation agendas. The PCMA allocated a comprehensive program to accelerate digital transformation internally and within key supervised sectors, striving for full integration with the broader system. It also launched a series of technical and consultative workshops with the insurance sector and all relevant parties as part of the development process for a new comprehensive insurance law draft that meets all needs, addresses deficiencies in the current law, and aligns with service developments and insurance demands in Palestine. In terms of insurance sector results, the insurance penetration ratio increased to 3.51% by the end of 2024, compared to 2.29% at the end of 2023, indicating a relative recovery in the depth of the insurance market.
The year 2024 witnessed many developments detailed in this annual report, in addition to the PCMA’s mechanisms and precautionary measures taken to confront the challenges arising from the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, which had painful consequences on various capital market sectors and other vital sectors in Palestine. Despite these challenges and impacts, the PCMA demonstrated its ability to adapt and confront these crises with high technical flexibility, reinforcing its role as a fundamental pillar in the stability of the Palestinian economy.
The content presented in the annual report serves as a rich reference for those interested in capital market sectors, investors and dealers, due to the statistics, data, and information it provides on non-banking financial sectors such as insurance, securities, and financial leasing. It also serves as a comprehensive database offering a vivid picture of the Palestinian capital market sectors.
We look to the year 2025 with hope and optimism to overcome challenges and enhance the PCMA’s position and its supervisory role over the capital market sectors, contributing to sustainable economic and social development.
Finally, I would like to thank the PCMA’s Board of Directors, the executive management, and the staff for their dedication and efforts. We also appreciate the efforts of the PCMA’s partners, each of whom contributes in their own way to achieving the PCMA’s vision and mission of stability and sustainability of its non-banking financial sectors.
Ammar Aker
Chairman of the
Board of Directors
