Translated by: Benoi Nair

Source: Emarat Al Youm 

Union Coop, the largest Consumer Cooperative in the UAE, posted 19 per cent growth in its sales during an experimental project, which included the ‘Value-Added tax Free’ campaign for three days, thereby confirming that it is considering replicating this experimental project.

In an exclusive statement to Emarat Al Youm, H.E. Khalid Humaid Bin Diban Al Falasi, CEO of Union Coop said, “The electronic transformation of stock certificates will provide a mechanism to link the share performance to the financial performance of Union Coop and regulate its share performance to benefit the best interest of the shareholders. The adoption of this electronic transformation will be determined after the General Assembly meeting on March 27th.

Electronic Certificates

H.E. Khalid Humaid Bin Diban Al Falasi, said, “Union Coop is currently considering the implementation of the initiative to convert share certificates from paper to electronic, which will be traded through a secured electronic platform that offers a unified price to all, based on supply and demand equation of the market, and eliminates any negative practices or manipulations of brokers.”

He added that the total number of shares of Union Coop currently stands at 152 million shares, pointing out that more than 30 thousand citizens at present are trading shares, selling and buying manually.

Al-Falasi assured that all the manipulations carried out by the brokers via fake electronic platforms, in the name of Union Coop, who claim to sell a large number of shares through social networking groups in recent times had no major impact on selling and buying of shares. He stressed that the fast electronic transformation will allow the linking of stocks to the financial performance of Union Coop, and adjust the price to benefit the best interests of shareholders and the abolition of misleading practices of brokers.

Experimental project Trial

Al-Falasi revealed that Union Coop carried out a three-day trial of an experimental project, during which the VAT (value added tax) was bear by Union Coop, and showed 19% increase in sales, compared to other promotions and discounts offered by Union Coop.

He explained that the project, which attracted a large number of consumers, revealed the psychological impact of the tax on the purchasing habit of consumers, stressing that Union Coop considering plans to repeat the initiative again during the coming period.

Instant settlement

Dr Suhail Al Bastaki, Director of Happiness and Marketing at Union Cooperative said that the electronic transfer of stock certificates will be approved following the General Assembly meeting, which is scheduled for March 27th. He added that some misleading practices conducted by brokers in order to try to influence the value of the shares are currently undergoing legal proceedings, and Union Coop have no comment on that until after the completion of the proceedings.

It is worth mentioning that Union Coop has indicated that at the time of electronic transformation shall implement to digitize the shares, shareholders will be able to trade shares using multiple channels, including electronic portal, mobile application or over the phone, and will offer the shareholders the advantage of ‘instant settlement’, using which they will be able to transfer and receive the share instantly. The shares will be deposited with the NASDAQ Securities Depository Center, Dubai, with providing electronic records of the shares.

–As stated to Emarat Al Youm