ANDRE VISSER: The JSE’s balancing act
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The Covid-19 pandemic is a humanitarian catastrophe that continues to pulse across the globe. Its impact has been far-reaching internationally, in our country and on many of our listed companies on the JSE.
As a key part of market infrastructure and the frontline regulator, the JSE is required to make and enforce its listings requirements for companies and securities. Our primary role is to ensure the publication and disclosure of relevant company information so that there is proper price formation and a fair, equitable market, which allows investors to make informed decisions.
In this regard we create an enabling environment where companies can get fair, transparent and efficient access to capital, and investors are allowed sufficient protection.
Everything we’ve done over the past few months has been focused on allowing issuers access to our capital markets, as opposed to looking for ways to block them at every corner.
But a balance must be struck — and that’s what makes the issuer regulation role so important. There needs to be an environment where companies can raise capital quickly and efficiently, while investors can still exercise their right to make informed decisions and vote on important matters that affect their rights.
Pull too far in one direction, and you dilute shareholders’ rights. Pull too far in the other, and you make it all but impossible for companies to run their business. It’s a balancing act.
Investors ask us to be more stringent, and issuers ask us to be much more lenient.
The circumstances around the Covid-19 crisis mean we’ve had to take a pragmatic approach as a regulator. We have a set of rules, and we apply them consistently to all companies on an equal basis. And 99% of the time it works — until you’re hit with Covid-19. The pandemic has brought on unprecedented circumstances, and the traditional regulatory framework is not designed to deal with crises of extreme proportions.
Still, as far back as early March, before the lockdown, we began engaging with issuers and sponsors.
The first step was to provide guidance on how to approach important regulatory matters dealing with, among others, the publication of Covid-19 price-sensitive information, the preparation and publication of financial results, considering the Covid-19 impact on international financial reporting standards, and reminding issuers of convening virtual general meetings.
We postponed the effective date of new listings requirements to allow issuers to focus on their ...
As a key part of market infrastructure and the frontline regulator, the JSE is required to make and enforce its listings requirements for companies and securities. Our primary role is to ensure the publication and disclosure of relevant company information so that there is proper price formation and a fair, equitable market, which allows investors to make informed decisions.
In this regard we create an enabling environment where companies can get fair, transparent and efficient access to capital, and investors are allowed sufficient protection.
Everything we’ve done over the past few months has been focused on allowing issuers access to our capital markets, as opposed to looking for ways to block them at every corner.
But a balance must be struck — and that’s what makes the issuer regulation role so important. There needs to be an environment where companies can raise capital quickly and efficiently, while investors can still exercise their right to make informed decisions and vote on important matters that affect their rights.
Pull too far in one direction, and you dilute shareholders’ rights. Pull too far in the other, and you make it all but impossible for companies to run their business. It’s a balancing act.
Investors ask us to be more stringent, and issuers ask us to be much more lenient.
The circumstances around the Covid-19 crisis mean we’ve had to take a pragmatic approach as a regulator. We have a set of rules, and we apply them consistently to all companies on an equal basis. And 99% of the time it works — until you’re hit with Covid-19. The pandemic has brought on unprecedented circumstances, and the traditional regulatory framework is not designed to deal with crises of extreme proportions.
Still, as far back as early March, before the lockdown, we began engaging with issuers and sponsors.
The first step was to provide guidance on how to approach important regulatory matters dealing with, among others, the publication of Covid-19 price-sensitive information, the preparation and publication of financial results, considering the Covid-19 impact on international financial reporting standards, and reminding issuers of convening virtual general meetings.
We postponed the effective date of new listings requirements to allow issuers to focus on their ...
