YEREVAN, March 28. /ARKA/. The technological underdevelopment of the stock exchange and the lack of open banking are hindering the development of the investment market in Armenia, says Ararat Mkrtchyan, executive director and managing member of the investment company Sirius Capital.
In an interview with the ARKA agency, Mkrtchyan highlighted that the technological underdevelopment of the stock exchange is preventing smoother integration. He also pointed out that the absence of open banking technology, which allows banks to share their technological systems with other financial institutions, is a major obstacle.
“In many countries, this is enforced by the central bank’s regulatory framework. For instance, in the UK, banks were required to switch to open banking – allowing users to bypass the bank’s mobile app and directly connect to its backend (server). This way, one can check balances and conduct transactions without needing to log into the bank’s app. Such ABI (Application Binary Interface) integration is crucial for the market, especially for investment companies,” emphasized Mkrtchyan.
He also noted that, surprisingly, there is a boom in the development of Armenia’s financial market.
“The number of issuances is growing annually, particularly corporate ones, and we are seeing many companies entering the financial market for the first time through bond issuance.”
