The JSE has been hit by a wave of delistings over the past two years and has seen few initial public offerings, prompting questions from investors about its suitability.
Leila Fourie, CEO of the JSE, told Reuters last year that the delistings the JSE has experienced have generally been on the “periphery”, referring to small and mid-cap companies that have mostly delisted from the exchange.
The exchange has also faced increased competition from smaller exchanges that are more nimble in terms of personnel and technology.
“Our ongoing goal is to create an enabling environment for JSE listing taking into account international best practice,” said Andre Visser, Director of Issuer Regulation at JSE in the release.
As part of the measures, the JSE will reduce the free float requirement – tradable shares of a company – from 20% to 10%, the JSE said, adding that this was in line with measures taken by UK and European stock exchanges.
The JSE will also change its rules for special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) “to align with major international markets to ensure the attractiveness and competitiveness of SPACs”, he said, without giving any details. details of the changes.
SPACs are companies without commercial activities that merge with a private company to make it public.
It also eased disclosure rules for financial reports and said it would also change the rules for listing debt instruments.
These rules “will go a long way towards providing a conducive and internationally competitive environment for raising capital”, Mr. Visser said.