Getting to know FINSEC
Introduction
THE Financial Securities Exchange (Private) Limited (FINSEC) is registered by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe as a Securities Exchange, (Alternative Trading Platform) under Section 30 of the Securities Exchange Act [Chapter 24:25] as read with the Securities (ATP) Rules S.1.100 of 2016. An ATP is a system that provides and maintains a marketplace or facilities for bringing together buyers and sellers of securities but does not set rules for participants or discipline or seek to control them other than by excluding them from trading.
FINSEC harnesses and facilitates electronic trading of a wide variety of securities, thereby formalising marginalised market segments and bringing all alternative trading activities onto a central and organised market place.
The vision behind the FINSEC ATP is to foster participation by Zimbabweans in a widely diversified capital market.
It eases the process of mobilisation of capital for medium and long-term investments focusing on wider participation in the capital markets coupled with the requisite technology for wider reach. The ATP reaches most Zimbabweans and connects them to the national financial system.
The FINSEC ATP allows for the listing and trading of a wider range of products that have hitherto not been obtainable in Zimbabwe but can be lucrative.
The Role of FINSEC as an Investment Platform
The FINSEC ATP provides wide distribution channels for issuers through the incorporation of the SMS, Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), the internet, and mobile money services for the Initial Public Offering (IPO) and secondary issues of securities.
The platform also provides investors with a convenient 24/7 mechanism to exit their investments using smartphone applications and USSD capable phones.
The FINSEC ATP connects all licensed securities dealers in Zimbabwe, enabling them to collect as well as post sell and purchase orders on an open board thereby allowing for automated real-time multilateral price discovery in the trading of various types of financial securities.
The FINSEC technology capacitates securities dealers and other market intermediaries in harvesting deal traffic from various channels in real time and to interface on an intelligent versatile world standard technology.
Thus, the administrative processes of trading, settlement and delivery of securities is converged into market based procedures revolving around licensed participants (Securities Dealers, Custodians, Settlement Banks and Transfer Secretaries). FINSEC has deployed the requisite infrastructure comprising the market rules and the technology which connects all the participants in real-time.
FINSEC Technology
The FINSEC ATP is an integrated securities market which comprises an automated trading infrastructure and a high-tech depository and settlement system.
The Automated Trading System (ATS) is a front-end engine that matches buyers and sellers of various types of securities. The FINSEC ATS connects all stockbrokers in Zimbabwe. At the back-end of the FINSEC technology is a Clearing & Settlement System (CSS) that keeps a dematerialised register of all investors.
The FINSEC CSS handles the realtime exchange of securities against payment. The CSS connects the Settlement Bank(s) to Custodians and Transfer Secretaries.
At the investor-end, FINSEC intends to introduce a trading and settlement infrastructure which is integrated to mobile and online trading technology.
In all, the FINSEC investor interface tools will enable straight through processing of traffic at primary issuance and secondary trading. The tools will come in three segments; ◆ Web-based solutions comprising the Order Management System for Institutional Investors and the Online Investor Portal for Retail Investors. ◆ App-based solutions for Retail
Investors on smart phones. ◆ USSD-based solutions (integrating mobile money services) for Retail Investors on non-smart phones. ◆ FINSEC is a local company and a member of the Escrow group which has interests in financial and technology solutions. Corpserve Registrars and Escrow Systems are also part of the group. For more information contact: 2nd Floor ZB Centre, Cnr. Kwame Nkrumah & 1st Street, Harare, Zimbabwe; Tel: +263 4 758 193, E-mail: info@finsec. co.zw; www.finsec.co.zw; Twitter: @ FINSECZim