JSE’s rival A2X lands weighty pair

The rival exchange to the JSE, A2X, has added Standard Bank and consumer group AVI to its portfolio, taking the number of companies listed on its platform to 13.

The rival exchange to the JSE, A2X, has added Standard Bank and consumer group AVI to its portfolio, taking the total number of companies listed on its platform to 13.

“The inclusion of Standard Bank’s ordinary and preference shares for trade on our exchange from Thursday next week, together with AVI, effectively doubles the size of the value of companies on our market from approximately R300bn to R600bn,” said Kevin Brady, the CEO of A2X.

Besides being the secondlargest financial services company on the JSE, what is even more significant for the start-up exchange is that Standard Bank was the second-most traded share on the JSE by value for the 12 months ending October, according to Brady.

“We feel we are now at a tipping point. We think this sends a very strong message to other companies, because if the likes of Standard Bank see fit to list with us, this will give a great deal of other companies the confidence to do the same.”

To make listing on A2X easy for JSE-listed firms, the “duallisted” principle applies. To list on A2X merely requires the consent of the company whose listing is in good standing on the JSE, in the same way as consent from a company with a primary listing in London would provide consent to list on the JSE.

IF THE LIKES OF STANDARD BANK SEE FIT TO LIST WITH US, THIS WILL GIVE OTHER COMPANIES THE CONFIDENCE TO DO THE SAME

Brady said the second wave of the tipping point will be when large investment managers and brokers begin investing in systems that will allow them to trade on A2X. “As we add more companies to our market, it makes the economic decision for the brokers to accelerate investment in upgrading their pre- and post-trade systems to enable them to trade across markets more compelling.”