The Iraq authorities are set to fine market leader Zain for failing to meet a deadline to list on the country’s stock exchange, following similar actions against peers Asiacell and Korek Telecom, according to Reuters.

Under the terms of the mobile licensing issue, the three operators had to list a portion of their shares on the Iraq stock exchange by August 2011 – a deadline which none of them met.

Zain now faces the largest penalty – US$12,864 per day since September 2011, compared to US$8,500 for Asiacell and US$2,500 for Korek – due to the fact it has more subscribers than its rivals. This means Zain currently owes around US$4 million.

According to the paper, Iraq’s Communications and Media Commission had said that as the four companies had more than four years to prepare for listing, there is “no excuse” for the deadline not being met.

There had previously been question marks over the ability of the fledgling exchange to handle three large IPOs in a similar timeframe, as well as the appetite for investors for the telecoms stock, and the impact of three rivals having to list at the same time.

According to Wireless Intelligence data, Zain has around 50 percent market share, followed by Qtel subsidiary Asiacell (37 percent) and France Telecom affiliate Korek (13 percent)