Securities Commission chair Bujare Abazi in Ohrid: ambition must be a growing capital market that converts savings into investments

The chair of the Securities Commission, Bujare Abazi, said in Ohrid that the goal for the Macedonian capital market must go beyond mere functionality: it should grow, convert household and corporate savings into investments, and become a venue trusted by citizens and attractive to long‑term investors. Abazi delivered the remarks at the 25th Annual Macedonian Stock Exchange conference.

Abazi said the market is undergoing a significant regulatory and developmental transition. Aligning with European standards, she argued, must both protect market integrity and create space for innovation and greater market dynamism.

She identified mobilizing domestic passive capital as a central challenge. "Citizens and companies hold substantial savings," Abazi warned, and institutions together with market participants must create conditions for some of that capital to flow into the capital market as investment rather than remaining idle.

Balancing regulation and growth

Abazi emphasized that the capital market should not be seen as a rival to bank lending but as a necessary complement, particularly for financing higher‑risk and innovative projects and for expanding funding sources available to small and medium enterprises.

On European integration, she cautioned that harmonization with EU rules should not mean blindly imposing administrative burdens. Instead, rules should be simpler, clearer and proportionate so they lower costs for participants while preserving market integrity.

Abazi also announced the commission's participation in a regulatory initiative together with seven EU member states, calling the step an opportunity for more intensive exchange of experience and alignment of supervisory practices.

With support from the Ministry of Finance and in cooperation with the exchange community, Abazi said transitional provisions have been prepared for the upcoming alignment of authorised participants with the new Law on Financial Instruments, "whose application begins next week." She described the new legal framework as the foundation for a transparent, integrated and attractive next phase of development for the domestic market.

Closing her speech, Abazi urged a strong partnership between the regulator, the Ministry of Finance, authorised participants, companies and investors, repeating her main message: "The goal should not be just a market that functions. Our ambition must be a market that grows. A market that turns savings into investments. Regulation into trust, and trust into development."

Photo: press material from the event