How to trade on the Belgrade Stock Exchange?

How to Trade

Trading at the Belgrade Stock Exchange is carried out with shares and bonds of Serbian companies, as well as with shares of the Republic of Serbia (euro denominated bonds for meeting obligations arising from foreign currency savings). In order to trade on the Belgrade Stock Exchange the issuer of securities should apply for admission to trading at the Exchange and submit prescribed documentation.

The Belgrade Stock Exchange market has two segments: regulated (Prime and Standard Market) and unregulated. There are no special criteria for inclusion of shares into the unregulated market, while for inclusion of shares into the Prime and Standard Market the criteria are defined by the Exchange Listing and Quotation Rules. More details on the organization of the market and requirements for inclusion, as well as on the trading methods and phases can be found on pages: Market Organization.

If you want to trade at the Belgrade Stock Exchange, you should contact one of the broker-dealer companies, members of the Exchange, whose list can be found on page: Exchange Members. There are no limitations for trading of foreign investors at the Belgrade Stock Exchange. Upon signing the Contract on representation with a broker, you open a special account for securities trading. This is the account into which you pay the funds for securities trading, i.e. the account into which the money will be transferred upon selling of securities. At the same time, the broker will open for you a securities account, where your buying and/or selling transactions will be registered, i.e. your ownership over particular shares and bonds. The shares at the Belgrade Stock Exchange are denominated in dinars (RSD), while the bonds are traded in euros.

For more information on previous trading sessions for particular securities and insight into the current situation on the market, go to page: Trade Monitoring.

Fiscal reliefs in 2009

Pursuant to provisions of the Law on Temporary Exemption from Taxation of Individual Income for Certain Kinds of Income the capital gains tax on the income realized from transfer with the compensation of securities and interest in the property of legal entities shall not be calculated and paid.The temporary exemption will be applied until the end of 2009.

Also, based on the Law on Modifications and Amendments to the Law on Property Tax which came into force at the end of January 2009, taxation of transfer of absolute rights (0.3%) for transfer of interest in a legal entity and of securities was permanently abolished.

How can I trade in shares and bonds?

Firstly, you need to contact a broker-dealer company, member of the Belgrade Stock Exchange, and sign a contract on intermediation.The list of Exchange members can be found on our website: http://www.belex.rs/eng/clanovi/spisak_clanova After that, the broker with whom you cocluded the contract will inform you on the trading procedures and mutual rights and obligations. You will have to open a special account with a bank who is a member of the Central Registry (institution keeping a registry of lawful owners of securities), so that after trading the money can be transferred from the account of buyer to the account of seller. At the same time, the broker-dealer company has to open a securities account in the Central Registry, so that after trading securities can be transferred from the securities account of seller to the securities account of buyer.
It is important to know that the authorized person of the Exchange member, with whom you concluded the contract, has to inform you on the regulation, basic elements and trading rules and fees. Then, you place an order with a broker licenced to trade, who will enter it into the BELEX FIX system according to the priority of placement. What will happen after that and when the order will be realized depends on market supply and demand and priority in order matching, which is described in detail in the Exchange Rules of Business Operation.

Is there a minimum amount of money prescribed for trading at the Exchange, and if the answer is yes, what is it?

There is not a minimum amount of money requred for share trading at the Exchange, it exclusively depends on the type of shares you want to buy, i.e, the price of a particular share, and you can buy at least one share. The fees for signing the contract with a broker-dealer company or a bank, opening account etc, are defined by the tariff regulations of the broker-dealer company and the bank.

Why can’s I buy/sell shares of company ABC?

The reasons why there is no trading in shares of a particular company can be the following:
On the one hand, it is possible that shares of the said company have not been included in exchange trading yet. In order to trade in a company shares, it is necessary to deliver to the Exchange the required documents, based on which trading is scheduled. The documents may be delivered by the issuers of securities, the company itself, or shareholders. The Exchange cannot influence the dynamics of filing the documents needed for trading. Additional details can be found on our web site, Admission to market: http://www.belex.rs/eng/trzista_i_hartije/prijem
On the other hand, it is possible that the said shares are traded regularly if there is supply and demand and it is possible to match the orders. However, sometimes, as in your case, there is no demand. Lack of demand means that nobody wants to buy the shares under the given conditions, so at that moment it is not possible to sell them.

How can I trade in shares at the Belgrade Stock Exchange and can I do that via the internet?

Share trading at the Belgrade Stock Exchange is executed exclusively through brokers. The Exchange trading system enables receipt of orders placed to the broker via the internet application, but the realization of this type of order receipt depends on the services brokers offer to their clients. If you subscribe, you can follow the movement of prices through the internet service at the address: http://www.belex.info/intro-e.php. By following price changes in real time, you can react quckly and place an order with your broker.

When will trading in shares of Company „XYZ“ start?

Company shares can be traded only upon delivery of prescribed documentation. Under certain conditions, trading is possible without the Prospectus, by submitting a request for trading, which is indicated. More details can be found on internet page:Admission to market: http://www.belex.rs/eng/trzista_i_hartije/prijem

Who is the owner of company ABC?

The owners of all securities issued in the territory of the Republic of Serbia are registered in the institution called Central registry, depository and clearing of securities. More details on the ownership structure of certain companies can be found on the website of the Central Registry: http://www.crhov.rs/index.cfm?jezik=en

When will shares from the process of tender privatisation be traded at the Belgrade Stock Exchange?

in line with the Privatisation Law, the Privatisation agency organizes sale of the unprivatised part of socially owned companies, i.e. 70% of the company capital. The buyer who buys 70% of the capital is obliged, under the Law on the market of securities and other financial instruments and three days after registering the ownership at the Central Registry, to submit to the Exchange an application for share trading in order to fulfill legal obligation and buy out the remaining shares from shareholders at the price achieved in the tender.

When carrying out transactions related to the securities trading at the Belgrade Stock Exchange, do foreign citizens have the same rights as the citizens of Serbia?

The citizens of other countries are free to trade in securities at the Belgrade Stock Exchange through a broker-dealer house, member of the Belgrade Stock Exchange. Authorized persons from the broker houses will inform them on the procedure of opening special accounts, registration in the Central Registry and other actions they are required to do before trading at the Exchange.

How is taxation of securities trading governed in Serbia?

According to the relevant legislation, taxation of securities is governed by the following regulations:
1. Personal Income Tax Law (“RS Official Gazette” no. 24/2001, 80/2002, 135/2004, 62/2006, 65/2006).
The following kinds of income are subject to the personal income tax:
1) Income from capital (interests, dividends and other income derived from share in profit); Capital income tax - dividends (20%) – (article 61 of the Personal Income Tax Law), for income realized from share in profit. The taxpayer is a physical person obtaining a dividend. The tax base is 80% of gross dividends or share in the profit paid to that person.
2) Capital gains; Capital gains tax (20%) – (articles 72 – 78 of the Personal Income Tax Law), calculated on the capital gains representing the difference between the sell price of securities and their purchase price. The taxpayer is a physical person who realized the gain from the sale of securities. Capital gains of legal entities are not subject to taxation as such. Pursuant to the Corporate Profit Tax Law they are included into the taxable profit in the tax balance sheet. The tax rate is 10%.
Pursuant to the provisions of the Law on Temporary Exemption from Taxation of Individual Income for Certain Kinds of Income (“RS Official Gazette”, No. 5/09), which was passed on 21st January 2009, and came into effect on 30 January 2009, the capital gains tax (20%) on the income realized from transfer with the compensation of securities and interest in the property of legal entities shall not be calculated and paid. Temporary exemption is applied from the day when this law came into effect to 31. December 2009, for transfers executed in that period.

Serbia's Export credit and Insurance Agency, AOFI, plans to keep supporting 12% of the country's exports next year, AOFI credit Sector Director Branko Vilotijevic said.

AOFI backed about 264 million euro ($393 million) in exports and lent Serbian exporters 65 million euro in 202 credits varying from 30,000 euro to 2.0 million euro each last year, Vilotijevic told SeeNews in an e-mailed interview.

“In the first nine months of this year we lent exporters 45.8 million euro. In 2010, we don’t expect deviation from current trends,” Vilotijevic said. Interest in AOFI services from local exporters has soared since the global crisis hit Serbia a year ago.

To qualify for short-term credits from AOFI, a company must export 300,000 euro worth of goods and services a year, to have posted a net profit in the previous year and to have signed an export deal.


“The share of locally made goods must account for 51% of total exporting value,” Vilotijevic added.

The agency, founded in 2005, has a 98% payment success rate and aims to promote Serbian exporters in cooperation with other local organisations, such as Serbia Investment and Export Promotion Agency (SIEPA).

While joining the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) in 2007 has not helped Serbia boost its exports because Belgrade already had a free trade agreements with CEE countries, CEFTA plays a very important role for Serbian companies, Vilotijevic said.

“Serbia is one of CEFTA members that uses this agreement the most. Its trade surplus with CEFTA members amounts to about $250 million a year,” he said.

Serbia’s trade deficit shrank by 44.7% year-on-year to $4.57 billion (3.13 billion euro) in the first eight months of 2009, the country’s statistics office said earlier this week. Exports fell by 32.6% on the year to $5.19 billion through August, while imports dropped by an annual 38.9% to $9.76 billion.