The
main English-language newspaper in the United Arab Emirates, the Gulf News,
wrote recently that sentiment on the major stock
exchanges around the world may be gloomy but there is always a ray of hope at
the exotic market places of the so-called frontier markets, which have
performed surprisingly well in times of economic difficulties and
uber-cautiousness in the rest of the financial world.

The Mongolian Stock Exchange is housed in a building that was formerly a
children’s cinema. Despite such an unassuming headquarters, the MSE rose 85 per
cent during the first half of the year, mostly due to rising prices of
commodity stocks. However, stock trading in Ulaanbaatar is still restricted,
especially for foreign investors. Turnover is low, and there are no stock
certificates or funds listed.

The exchange, founded in 1991 to
implement “the centre of the reform program” which was set to
privatize the state owned enterprises, is one of the smallest in the world. It
has a market capitalization of less than USD600 million. Currently, the
exchange has launched a cooperation treaty with the Singapore bourse “to
collaborate for the benefit of the financial services industries in Singapore
and Mongolia”.