Big changes to JSE listing requirements on the way
After an initial round of public commentary undertaken by the JSE Limited on the proposed amendments to the JSE Debt Listings Requirements, the South African Registrar of Securities Services has announced that part 2 of the 2016 amendments are available on the Financial Services Board’s website for further public comment.
According to ENS Africa, the proposed amendments are the most extensive released in a number of years and, in some instances, include effective rewrites of sections of the DLRs that have seen little changed for some time.
These include:
- increased disclosure;
- complete overhaul of the document change process (for example, changes to security documents and credit enhancement agreements will now also require prior JSE and noteholder approval unless such changes are of a “technical nature, made to correct a manifest error or to comply with the mandatory provisions of any applicable laws”;
- separate disclosure requirements for securitisations and “other asset-backed debt securities”;
- adding to the list of documents that must be published on the JSE website (for example, security structure documents and credit enhancement agreements);
- expanding the types of information that may be incorporated by reference;
- streamlining the listings process (for example, applicant issuers may now elect to appoint a debt sponsor or an internal “designated person” to liaise with the JSE);
- making inward listings by foreign issuers simpler (for example, certain categories of foreign issuers will now only need to prepare a “JSE wrapper” to their offshore programmes); and
- clarifying those sections of the DLRs that were previously not entirely clear.
While the processes themselves are jargon-heavy, according to ENS Africa they will have a number of practical effects on how listing takes place.
Most notably, these changes are likely to increase the costs of listing programmes and notes, and the time involved, until market participants and the JSE have fully changed and implemented the significant changes.
The deadline to review and comment on the proposals is 14 July 2017. The latest version of the amendments is available here and the explanatory memorandum is available here.
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