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Persistent gibt ein weiteres Quartal kontinuierlichen Wachstums mit einem Umsatzanstieg von 32,8 % bekannt

emadmin — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 09:00:10 +0000

Meldet ein Gewinnwachstum nach Steuern um 34,9 % gegenüber dem Vorjahr und gibt eine Zwischendividende von 28 INR pro Aktie bekannt SANTA CLARA, Kalifornien, und PUNE, Indien, 19. Januar 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Zusammenfassung der Nachrichten Persistent Systems (BSE: PERSISTENT) (NSE:…

Published on : 2023-01-19 06:53:00

Source :cision

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News24.com | JUST IN | Spar’s auditors report dodgy loan to regulator

emadmin — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 09:00:07 +0000

Retailer Spar says its auditors have reported a loan the company entered into to the Independent Regulatory Board of Auditors (IRBA), which oversees the country’s auditing profession. In an update to shareholders on Thursday, Spar said its auditors, PwC, found the loan to be a reportable irregularity, meaning IRBA needed to be notified immediately. Spar then conducted its own investigation, which also concluded that a reportable irregularity had occurred. Spar did not give much information about the loan, apart from saying that it was entered into five years ago between a “willing lender and borrower through a commercial bank” at a “normal interest rates with fixed terms of repayment.” The issue of “fictitious” loans at Spar was first raised in an internal probe conducted by law firm Harris Nupen Molebatsi (HNM) in 2021. The HNM report, leaked to News24 last year, found that two loans the grocer had entered into “lacked substance”. But HNM was unable to say at the time where the loans constituted accounting irregularities. EXCLUSIVE | Spar settles with ex-director who says retailer tricked him into running dud stores Spar’s board had now decided that they did. “The board concluded that the loan did not seem to have served any real commercial or economic purpose and should not have taken place,” it said on Thursday. Then there were three Reviews of other loans arranged by Spar for retailers identified two other similar transactions from five years ago. The combined value of all three loans is R11 million. It was not immediately clear whether these two loans had also been reported to IRBA. “Spar’s auditors are satisfied that this was an isolated matter and is no longer taking place,” it said. The announcement comes just two days after Spar announced that its CEO Brett Botten would retire at month-end amid a board shakeup. Spar’s former CEO and chairperson, Graham O’Connor, is also planning to retire at the group’s upcoming annual general meeting in February. Long-time independent non-executive director, Phumla Mnganga, is planning to step down at the same time. Printing group Novus Holdings had also announced on Wednesday that Mnanga would be stepping down as chair at the end of March, saying she had “been considering and reviewing her listed board portfolio for some time” and was looking to balance her commitments. Meanwhile, two new non-executive directors, Dr Shirley Anne Zinn and Pedro Manuel Pereira da Silva, have been appointed to the board, which Spar says “addresses any existing shareholder concerns around independence”.

Published on : 2023-01-19 08:05:42

Source :fin24

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Top 10 richest people in the world – 18 January 2023

emadmin — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 09:00:28 +0000

Money makes money and these 10 people have made a lot of it over the years. And by a lot, we mean a LOT ! FOR MORE BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS VISIT THE SOUTH AFRICAN WEBSITE The Bloomberg Billionaires Index is a daily ranking of the world’s richest people. France’s Bernard Arnault is the new richest person in the world having surpassed South African-born Elon Musk . They are followed by India’s Gautam Adani who rounds out the Top 3. The rest of the Top 10, in order, are: Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Larry Ellison,Steve Ballmer, Mukesh Ambani, and Larry Page The figures are updated at the close of every trading day in New York. Below, the Top 10 richest people in the world at the close of business on 17 January 2023 .

Creator :Shyleen Choruma

Published on : 2023-01-18 06:00:00

Source :thesouthafrican

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Tackling climate crisis requires political will, private capital and home-grown innovation: Badr Jafar speaking at Davos

emadmin — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 09:00:25 +0000

At a special session on climate philanthropy hosted at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, public, private and philanthropy leaders gathered to amplify efforts to drive impact and shape global, regional and industry agendas around climate philanthropy. The session, titled ‘Philanthropy: A Catalyst for Protecting Our Planet,’ took place as the United Arab Emirates prepares for hosting COP28 Emirates Climate Conference later this year. Opening the session, Borge Brende, President of the World Economic Forum, highlighted that less than 2% of global philanthropy currently goes towards climate change action and called for greater collaboration between stakeholders to scale impact. He was followed by John F. Kerry, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, who spoke of the urgent need to harness the power of catalytic philanthropy to protect our planet. Moderated by Gim Huay Neo, Managing Director, Centre for Nature and Climate, World Economic Forum, the session convened business and policy leaders including Mark Carney, UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance, Desmond Kuek, CEO, Temasek Trust, Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, Egypt, and Badr Jafar, CEO of Crescent Enterprises. Currently, between USD $7.5-12.5 billion of global philanthropy is spent on climate action with funding for climate mitigation tripling in the past 5 years. The discussion focused on the opportunity for strategic philanthropy to unlock trillions in private capital and government-procured funds towards meeting climate goals, while also highlighting the important role for philanthropy across global growth markets including the Middle East and North Africa to help create an enabling environment to accelerate action. For his part, Badr Jafar, CEO of Crescent Enterprises, and Founding Patron of the Centre for Strategic Philanthropy based at the University of Cambridge and Strategic Philanthropy Initiative at NYU Abu Dhabi, said: “Climate change affects us all. It has the potential to deeply impact human health and capital assets with issues such as extreme heat, water scarcity and poor air quality already creating systemic challenges for global growth markets. Rising to the challenge of tackling these issues requires a truly collaborative approach, and a combination of political will, private capital and home-grown innovation if we are to unlock the $100 trillion additional investment needed to transition to net zero.” The meeting also witnessed the launch of the World Economic Forum’s Giving to Amplify Earth Action (GAEA), a public-private-philanthropy partnership for climate and nature calling for a multi-stakeholder and multi-sector approach to embrace global philanthropy to catalyse climate action, announcing Badr Jafar as a Champion of the initiative. “As we witness the largest generational transfer of wealth of over 60 trillion dollars take place in the coming years, we have a unique opportunity to embrace a cultural shift in giving, to use this vast wealth to attain sustainable and inclusive prosperity globally,” Badr Jafar remarked. “Regions like the Middle East and Africa stand the most to gain from climate adaption and mitigation investments, and COP28 in the UAE will create a global architecture for all capital actors to act together at speed and at scale,” he added. The discussion was hosted as part of WEF’s climate multi-sector collaborative to unlock the private finance and public funds needed to regenerate the earth systems across nature, ocean, conservation, restoration, air quality, water, food systems, biodiversity, industry decarbonisation and green technology deployment. A recording of the session can be watched here [link].

Published on : 2023-01-18 07:26:00

Source :saudigazette

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stc tops list of Middle East’s most valuable telecom brands for three consecutive years

emadmin — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 09:00:10 +0000

RIYADH — stc Group, the leading digital enabler in the region, has succeeded in maintaining the first rank as the most valuable brand in the Middle East in the telecommunication sector, for the third year in a row, according to Brand Finance’s global 500 2023 report. Thanks to the group’s success, continuous expansion, and growth since the “Dare” strategy launch in 2017. Over the last five years, the brand’s value has increased by almost 100%, from $6.2 billion in 2017 to $12.3 billion in 2022. This achievement results from the brand’s outstanding performance in maintaining its leadership position and enhancing its commercial strength in KSA and the region. In addition to being the most valuable brand, stc Group ranked among the fastest-growing brands in the region with a growth rate of 16.7% stc Bank also increased by 27.5%, climbed 25 places in the Global 500 ranking, the most by any Middle Eastern brand in the study, profiting from the robust future growth given its dominance in its home market. The “Brand Finance” report also classifies brands worldwide by measuring brands’ strength globally, using the “Brands Strength” index, external factors, and business performance. It also includes an evaluation of all companies’ activities regionally and internationally. stc Group is considered to be the strongest brand in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Kuwait. It is worth noting that, Brand Finance is a world leader in brand valuation, and every year it ranks the strongest and most valuable brands. It evaluates more than 5,000 brands in all sectors and regions every year. Moreover, the report “Brand Finance Global 500 2023” includes the 500 most valuable brands worldwide.

Published on : 2023-01-18 07:29:00

Source :saudigazette

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Annual consumer price inflation at 7,2% in December

emadmin — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 09:00:05 +0000

Stats SA confirmed that the annual consumer price inflation was 7,2% in December 2022. This is down from 7,4% in November 2022. The consumer price index increased by 0,4% month-on-month in December 2022. The main contributors to the 7,2% annual inflation rate were food and non-alcoholic beverages, housing and utilities, transport, and miscellaneous goods and services. ALSO READ: October inflation surprises with another increase Food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 12,4% year-on-year, and contributed 2,1 percentage points to the total CPI annual rate of 7,2%. Housing and utilities increased by 4,1% year-on-year, and contributed 1 percentage point. Transport increased by 13,9% year-on-year, and contributed 2 percentage points. Miscellaneous goods and services increased by 4,9% year-on-year, and contributed 0,7 of a percentage point. In December, the annual inflation rate for goods was 10,1%, down from 10,4% in November; and for services it was 4,3%, down from 4,5% in November. ALSO READ: Inflation down while CPI up in September 2022 Annual average headline consumer price index for 2022 Average annual consumer price inflation was 6,9% in 2022 (i.e. the average CPI for all urban areas for 2022 compared with that for 2021). This was 2,4 percentage points higher than the corresponding average of 4,5% in 2021. *Updates to follow

Creator :Citizen Reporter

Published on : 2023-01-18 08:26:36

Source :citizen

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Gold price today: 10 grams of 24-carat stands at Rs 56,950; silver at Rs 72,500 per kilo

emadmin — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 09:28:06 +0000

In India, the price of 10 grams of 24-carat gold stands at Rs 56,950 today, 17 January. One kilogram of silver is being bought and sold at Rs 72,500. The rate of the metal changes daily due to factors like excise duty, state taxes, and making charges. As per the Good Returns website, 10 grams of 22-carat gold in Mumbai and Kolkata is being traded at Rs 52,200. The same quantity of the valuable metal costs Rs 52,350 in New Delhi. In Chennai, 10 grams of 22-carat gold is priced at Rs 53,170.Looking at the 24-carat gold rates, 10 grams in Kolkata and Mumbai is being acquired at Rs 56,950. The same quantity of 24-carat purity is being procured at Rs 58,000 in Chennai and Rs 57,100 in the national capital.In Lucknow and Coimbatore, 10 grams of 22-carat gold is being obtained at Rs 52,350 and Rs 53,170, respectively. The same amount of 24-carat purity is being bought and sold at Rs 57,100 in Lucknow and Rs 58,000 in Coimbatore.In Pune, Hyderabad, and Kerala, 10 grams of 22-carat gold is being sold at Rs 52,200. The same quantity of 24-carat purity costs Rs 56,950 in the three places.In Ahmedabad, Patna, and Bengaluru 10 grams of 22-carat gold is valued at Rs 52,250. The same amount of 24-carat purity is priced at Rs 57,000 in the above cities.According to the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) data, gold futures that are set to mature on 3 February 2023, dropped 0.09 per cent to Rs 56,430.00. Silver futures, which will mature on 3 March this year, slipped 0.19 per cent to Rs 69,652.00.Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Creator :FP Trending

Published on : 2023-01-17 05:59:55

Source :firstpost

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Top 3 richest South Africans in the world – 17 January 2023

emadmin — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 09:20:03 +0000

Money makes money and these three South Africans have made a lot of it over the years. And by a lot, we mean a LOT ! FOR MORE BUSINESS & FINANCE NEWS VISIT THE SOUTH AFRICAN WEBSITE The Bloomberg Billionaires Index is a daily ranking of the world’s richest people. The figures are updated at the close of every trading day in New York. In terms of the overall world list, France’s Bernard Arnault surpassed South Africa-born Elon Musk making him the new world’s richest person. ALSO READ | MEDICLINIC ACCEPTS R75 BILLION BID FROM SA’S RICHEST MAN JOHANN RUPERT Below, the Top 3 richest South Africans in the world at the close of business on 16 January 2023 Under world rank, name, total net worth, $ last change, $ YTD change, country / region, industry

Creator :Shyleen Choruma

Published on : 2023-01-17 08:30:00

Source :thesouthafrican

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A2X Exchange Review

emadmin — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 09:03:04 +0000

Read our latest article to increase your trading knowledge: A2X Exchange Review Overall A2X Exchange shares and prices are available on several platforms. A2X is licensed and regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) and the Prudential Authority (PA) by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB). A2X Exchange has listings from key sectors like media, property, mining, banking, retail, FMCG, financial services, insurance, healthcare, and telecommunications. A2X Exchange at a glance Broker’s NameA2X Exchange TypeStock exchange Year Founded2014, opened for business in 2017 LocationSandton, Johannesburg, South Africa Regulating AuthoritiesFinancial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), formerly known as the Financial Services Board (FSB), and the Prudential Authority (PA) by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB). Key peopleAshley Mendelowitz – Chairman Kevin Brady – Chief Executive Officer No. of listings30+ Market capR 2.1 trillion Market HoursMonday – Friday: 09:00–16:50 (SAST) Support HoursMonday – Friday: 07:30 – 17:30 (SAST) A2X Exchange Review – 11 Key Point Quick Overview Revealed (2023): A2X Exchange Overview History of A2X EXCHANGE Ownership of A2X EXCHANGE Regulation of A2X EXCHANGE Benefits of trading on A2X EXCHANGE Awards won by A2X EXCHANGE Exchange codes used at/for A2X EXCHANGE Companies listed on A2X EXCHANGE How to list on A2X EXCHANGE Contact details of A2X EXCHANGE Frequently asked questions A2X Exchange Overview According to research in South Africa A2X EXCHANGE is a stock exchange that plays an integral part in the progression of the South African marketplace. A2X Exchange opened its doors for trade on 6 October 2017 when it was established by an experienced team of professionals, all hand-picked from across the financial services and technology industries. Their experience, combined with stable systems, cutting-edge technology and an agile environment enable A2X Exchange to provide an efficient and cost-effective trading venue to the market where secondary listing of companies and shares trade can take place. The team strive to empower the market with choice by providing a complementary venue for companies to secondary list shares for trade by using the latest high-performance exchange technology supplied by Aquis Exchange in the UK. This way they are able to offer large fee savings on the end-to-end cost of transacting and a seamless trading experience for brokers. A2X Exchange fits into the existing capital market infrastructure and uses STRATE and its participants to settle all trades transacted on the exchange. At A2X Exchange there is the realisation that a broker strives to achieve best execution for their clients when trading and the team have created a venue where they can do just that. By monitoring action across several markets they will be able to find the best share price at any given point in time. Trading on A2X Exchange also means a direct cost savings to all as a result of lower transaction and clearing fees, narrower spreads and increased market activity. The full visibility of price and volume activity provided by the exchange will empower brokers and traders to achieve best execution when transacting in listed securities across both A2X Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). A2X Exchange shares and prices are available on several platforms and the team have created simple, easy to use guides to help anybody find the data they require on their platform of choice. History of A2X EXCHANGE A2X Exchange had opened its doors for trade on 6 October 2017 due to a team committed to progressing the financial marketplace in South Africa. The process to open the exchange started on 10 October 2014 when the A2X company was founded by Sean Melnick, Ashley Mendelowitz and Kevin Brady, all three individuals with vast experience in financial markets and technology. At the time they shared the common goal to create a new South African exchange that would bring healthy competition to the market. In March 2017 African Rainbow Capital (ARC) acquired a 20% share in A2X and ARC Chairman, Patrice Motsepe, declared that they were happy to support the group because of it bringing effective competition in an industry traditionally dominated by one player. He said that competition drives market efficiencies, and the establishment of A2X Exchange would benefit all users, including individual investors and pensioners. On 6 April 2017 A2X was issued with an Exchange Licence with an infrastructure to clear and A2X could officially become a new South African exchange licensed in terms of the Financial Markets Act of 2012. On 6 Oct of that year A2X Exchange went live with three listed companies: African Rainbow Capital, Peregrine Holdings and Coronation Fund Managers became the first companies to list on A2X Exchange. At the time Anton Pillay, Coronation CEO, expressed their appreciation for the impact that A2X was likely to have on South African markets, explaining why Coronation, as active player in the South African equity market as issuer and fund manager, felt the need to be part of such an evolution. During November 2017 Afrimat secondary listed on A2X Exchange, with Andries van Heerden as CEO of Afrimat explaining his rationale for listing. He said their board agreed that stock exchange competition would be healthy for the entire market and that they supported the idea that reduced cost of trading will bring in additional investors. That was soon followed by secondary listings by Sandown Capital, which, after unbundling from Peregrine Holdings, listed on A2X Exchange on the same day as on the JSE. At the beginning of December 2017 NALA acquired a 10% stake in A2X and from January 2018 Reuters provided real-time price data of shares listed on A2X Exchange. At the time MD Thomson Reuters Africa Sneha Shah said that they believe in open markets where multiple players thrive, using systems that drive efficiency and provide better customer experience. He gave that as reason why they were open to working with and providing data from all exchanges to customers so that a variety of places to trade are offered and more informed trading decisions could be made with the clearest view of what was happening around the world. In Apr 2018 the Huge Group Limited secondary listed on A2X Exchange, with CEO James Herbst explaining that it was not a very difficult decision to make, since there were neither additional costs to Huge of listing its shares for trading on A2X, nor an additional administrative burden. Their rationale for a secondary listing was mainly to bring the prospect of lower transactional costs to investors who trade their shares and the continuing obligations would be easy to fulfil. Also in April 2018 Bloomberg started to provide real-time price data of shares listed on A2X Exchange, an A2X CEO Kevin Brady welcomed it by saying that Bloomberg had a strong user base amongst industry participants and investors in the South African financial markets, so the availability of A2X data on that platform was an important development in providing full visibility of price and volume activity on the exchange. He felt that would empower the industry to achieve best execution when transacting in listed securities across multiple trading venues. That was soon followed by a secondary listing on A2X Exchange by Sanlam and Sanlam shares became available for trade on A2X immediately. Sanlam Chief Executive Ian Kirk said that Sanlam’s A2X listing was in the interests of its shareholders and provided an opportunity to participate in the ongoing development and overall growth of South Africa’s capital markets. At the end of May 2018 Ascendis Health secondary listed on A2X Exchange, with its CEO Thomas Thomsen also saying that they were pleased to complement their primary listing on the JSE with the secondary listing on A2X. They saw that secondary listing as an opportunity to attract potential new investors through the lower-cost trading structure of A2X and broaden their shareholder base. On 10 July 2018 Anchor Group became the sixth corporate from the Financial Services industry to list on A2X Exchange. Anchor’s CEO, Peter Armitage felt that such a secondary listing on A2X gave brokers more options and supported free market principles, without any added risk or cost to his company, while it made economic sense for them to back people who were bringing down overall costs. Also during July 2018 Growthpoint Properties became the first property listing on A2X Exchange. Group CEO Norbert Sasse expressed the belief that their secondary listing on the A2X Exchange would contribute to the growth and efficiency of South Africa’s financial markets, encourage competition and align with global practices. In September 2018 Sygnia Limited secondary listed on A2X Exchange and offered Sygnia an opportunity to broaden and diversify its offering to benefit its clients and spur local innovation and in November Standard Bank Group Limited Ordinary Shares and Preference Shares and AVI Limited become available for trade on A2X Exchange too. AVI was the first FMCG company to list on A2X Exchange, which A2X CEO Kevin Brady saw as an important milestone. Shortly thereafter African Rainbow Minerals became the first company from the mining sector to list on A2X Exchange, followed by Naspers Limited in December 2018. Its CEO, Bob van Dijk, said that as one of the world’s leading technology investors they understood the value of technology and were pleased to support these efforts by also listing on A2X. The year 2019 started off with Santam Limited secondary listing on A2X Exchange. Santam CEO, Lizé Lambrechts said they were continually looking for new ways to add benefit for clients and shareholders and saw that additional listing as an opportunity to attract potential new investors. On 4 February 2019 A2X Exchange’s application to extend its licence to include the secondary listing and trading of ETFs and ETNs was approved by the FSCA and the Prudential Authority and a few day later Tharisa plc shares become available for trade. For that company the secondary listing on A2X was an opportunity to improve liquidity and attract new investors through the lower trading costs without any additional regulatory requirements or ongoing obligations. In April 2019 Aspen secondary listed on A2X Exchange which offered its investors trading benefits while simultaneously providing the prospect of increasing its shareholder base. In May 2019 Mr Price became the first retailer to list on A2X Exchange, which, according to CEO Mark Blair, allowed the company better choices to investors and opened up opportunity for it to attract potential new investors. In June and July 2019 the second and third property groups joined A2X Exchange: First Property Investment and Development Group NEPI Rockcastle and then Equites Property Fund. Those listing were soon followed by those of Absa, which was first to secondary list Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) on A2X Exchange. The metal EFTs available for trade were NewGold (GLD), NewPlat (NGPLT) and NewGold Palladium (NGPLD) Chris Edwards, Head of Prime Services and Index Solutions at Absa Corporate and Investment Bank, said ETFs were cost sensitive and adding a secondary listing allowed investors to capture not only the direct saving of lower transaction fees but also the indirect savings that accrued as result of narrower spreads and increased liquidity. In July 2019 Vunani financial services group secondary listed on A2X and CEO Ethan Dube explained the act as a way of bringing together diversified financial services platforms and product offerings. He saw the listing on the exchange as another way for them to give more choice to investors and opening opportunity to attract potential new investors. Their listing was followed in August 2019 by industrial goods and services group Invicta, whose CEO Arnold Goldstone said that their secondary listing on A2X further underpinned their commitment to creating long-term value for stakeholders. Transaction Capital secondary listed on A2X Exchange in September 2019 because, according to CEO, David Hurwitz, they supported free market principles and saw A2X Exchange as a pioneering platform. In October 2019 Investec listed the first exchange traded notes (ETNs) on A2X Exchange. Tinus Rautenbach, Head of Equities at Investec CIB said that passive products such as ETNs were particularly cost sensitive as they track an underlying index consisting of a basket of securities. He said their ETNs were market leaders as they had a zero total expense ratio and making them available to investors on the A2X low-cost platform would extend their value proposition to investors. Fairvest Property Holdings was the next property group to secondary list on A2X Exchange and did so in October 2019, which they saw as an opportunity to attract potential new investors and broaden their shareholder base. In November 2019 Emerging helium and domestic natural gas producer Renergen Limited listed on A2X Exchange because they too saw compelling value in this platform for their shareholders. The year 2023 started good for A2X Exchange when in February Sasol listed on the platform. Sasol Chief Financial Officer, Paul Victor, explained Sasol’s decision to list on A2X as part of the company’s commitment to continually find ways to increase value for shareholders as well as provide them with a variety of trading venue options. In March 2023 the City Lodge Hotel Group listed on A2X Exchange and group CEO, Andrew Widegger reiterated that they saw this secondary listing not only as a way to save investors’ money through A2X’s low cost structure but also as an opportunity to attract potential new investors. In April Exxaro Resources shares become available for trade on A2X Exchange and CEO Mxolisi Mgojo said their listing on A2X supported their commitment to investors and the South African marketplace because mining still plays a significant role in the economy of the South African nation and they believe that one of the keys to remaining relevant is to incorporate emerging technologies into their business operations. In May 2023 Hudaco was welcomed by A2X CEO Kevin Brady, applauding the company’s remarkable 125-year history and in August Momentum Metropolitan also joined the list of companies listing on A2X Exchange. As a major participant in South African financial markets, Momentum Metropolitan Group Finance Director Risto Ketola said they were committed to support initiatives that drive down the frictional costs in financial market transactions and believed that healthy competition was to everyone’s benefit. Ownership of A2X EXCHANGE A2X Exchange is owned by a small group of founding shareholders, management and staff, with African Rainbow Capital holding a 20% stake and broad-based empowerment company Nala a 10% stake. A2X Exchange is run by the small but diverse team that was hand-picked from across the financial services and technology industries. They combine their collective experience and insight to operate the stock exchange in a way that challenges the norms, progresses the market and gives their stakeholders an exceptional and valuable experience. Each of the team members plays an important part in the business because his or her contribution, added to the right attitude, result in the overall exceptional performance of the exchange. The team consists of the following people: Ashley Mendelowitz as Non-Executive Chairman Sean Melnick as Non-Executive Director Kevin Brady as Chief Executive Officer Bridget Radebe as Independent non-executive director Brenda Matyolo as Non-Executive Director Bert Chanetsa as Chair of the Regulatory Committee Gary Clarke as Head of Legal and Regulation Otsile Matheba as Chief Financial Officer Neal Lawrence as Chief Technology Officer Brett Kotze as Head of Post-Trade Services Kholofelo Motshekga as Market Surveillance Analyst Rose Willem for Post-Trade Services Luthfia Akbar for Legal and Regulation Stuart Jackson as IT Ops Support Analyst Diane Bomberg as Head of Marketing Mark van Eck and Emmanuel Mogashoa as IT Infrastructure Engineers Regulation of A2X EXCHANGE A2X is licensed and regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), formerly known as the Financial Services Board (FSB), and the Prudential Authority (PA) by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB). Between 1990 to 2018 the Financial Services Board (FSB) was the government of South Africa’s financial regulatory agency responsible for the non-banking financial services industry in South Africa. Now known as the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, the FSCA’s mandate includes the following: To improve the efficiency and integrity of financial market Promote fair customer treatment by financial institutions Provide financial education Promote financial literacy and Assist in maintaining financial stability. The Financial Sector Regulation (FSR) Act was signed into law on 21 August 2017 as culmination of collaboration on financial sector reform by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), National Treasury and the Financial Services Board. This act resulted in important changes to the regulation of the South African financial sector, including giving the SARB a clear mandate to maintain and enhance financial stability and creating a prudential regulator, the Prudential Authority (PA) which is responsible for regulating banks, insurers, cooperative financial institutions, financial conglomerates and certain market infrastructures. The PA is a juristic person operating within the administration of the SARB and consists of four departments: The Financial Conglomerate Supervision Department; the Banking, Insurance and FMI Supervision Department; the Risk Support Department; and the Policy, Statistics and Industry Support Department. Benefits of trading on A2X EXCHANGE The A2X Exchange acts as a Multilateral Trading Facility styled exchange platform, operating as follows: Trading in qualifying equity securities The matching engine is an anonymous central order book All orders will be lit and matched on price/time priority All trades currently take place on-market A high performance, low latency platform Internationally proven technology Trades executed on the platform are cleared by A2X Clear as follows: Clearing takes place on a multilateral basis Settlement occurs on a T+3 rolling contractual basis Settlement is assured and monitored by the A2X settlement committee STRATE is the appointed Central Securities Depository The website of the A2X Exchange summarises the benefits of listing and trading on the exchange as follows: Best Execution By looking cross-market brokers can ensure that they will get the best deal for their clients according to international best practice. Choice and Reduced Fees Brokers now have a choice of trading venue. With A2X Exchange they can expect narrower spreads and increased liquidity that generate material savings while brokers also enjoy a 50% reduction on the end-to-end cost of transacting. A Contingency Plan Should one market experience issues, listed shares will still be available for trade. Brokers realise that a secondary listing is the best way to show their shareholders that they value their investment and a secondary listing on A2X Exchange also complements a company’s primary listing by providing its investors with a choice of venue to transact. A further benefit is that this comes with no impact on a company’s primary listing, nor any cost, risk or additional regulatory burden. The situation creates real benefits for shareholders, including lower transaction costs, narrower spreads and increased liquidity that in turn generate material savings for the end investor. Lower the cost of raising capital Narrower spreads and deeper pools of liquidity have been proven to lower the cost of raising capital. International Best Practice Multiple listings in the same jurisdiction are commonplace in most developed markets and increasingly so even in many developing markets. Regulatory authorities around the world have moved to open up capital markets to competition to initiate benefits competition brings to the end user – often the pension fund of an everyday working person. Experience savings through efficiency In South Africa, based on a typical day’s trading activity of R20 billion in equities, efficiency savings that can accrue to industry and the end investors are estimated to be more than R4 million per day, or a huge R1 billion per year. Awards won by A2X EXCHANGE Despite being in operation for only a few years, A2X Exchange has already discerned itself by raking in several prestigious awards. These include the following: 2019 Global Banking & Finance Awards – Best New Stock Exchange in Africa 2020 Global Banking & Finance Awards: Fastest Growing Stock Exchange South Africa CEO Kevin Brady – Stock Exchange CEO of the Year South Africa International Business Magazine Award Winner 2023: Mr. Kevin Brady – Stock Exchange CEO of The Year Africa Best New Stock Exchange Africa 2020 International Finance Brokerage Awards – Best New Stock Exchange Company Exchange codes used at/for A2X EXCHANGE The market identifier code (MIC) is A2XX The Bloomberg Exchange Code is AJ The Identification of Requirements for Enterprise Social Software (IRESS) Exchange Code is @A2X or ZAX (Consolidated) The Thomson Reuters Exchange Code is A2X The Security Reference Data code is security.csv Companies listed on A2X EXCHANGE A2X Exchange began trading in October 2017 and focuses on providing a cost-effective and efficient trading venue. At the beginning of 2018, A2X Exchange only had five listed companies with a combined market cap of around R50 billion, but by mid-2020 there had already been 38 companies listed with a combined market cap of over R2.2 trillion. A2X Exchange has listings from key sectors like media, property, mining, banking, retail, FMCG, financial services, insurance, healthcare, and telecommunications. These listed companies include: African Rainbow Cap Inv. (AIL); African Rainbow Min Ltd. (ARI); Afrimat Limited (AFT); Anchor Group Limited (ACG); Ascendis Health Ltd. (ASC); Aspen Pharmacare Holdings (APN); AVI Ltd (AVI); Coronation Fund Managers (CML); Equites Prop Fund Ltd. (EQU); Fairvest Property Holdings (FVT); Growthpoint Prop Ltd. (GRT); Huge Group Ltd. (HUG); IBSWX40TR2ETNOCT2022 (SWXTR2); IBTOP40TR2ETNOCT22 (TOPTR2); Invicta Holdings Ltd. pref. (INTP); Invicta Holdings Ltd. (IVT); Mr Price Group Limited (MRP); Naspers Ltd -N- (NPN); NEPI Rockcastle Plc (NRP); NewGold ETF (GLD); NewGold Palladium ETF (NGPLD); NewGold Platinum ETF (NGPLT); Peregrine Holdings (PGR); Renergen Limited (REN) and Sandown Capital (SDC). How to list on A2X EXCHANGE To be eligible for a secondary listing, the applicant must be an issuer in good standing with the JSE. The secondary listing application consists of a two-page document which must be completed and signed by an authorised signatory of the applicant issuer before it is submitted to A2X. This application document contains the following information: A declaration that the applicant is an issuer in good standing with the JSE The URL address where the latest annual financial statements, interim financial statements and regulatory announcements of the company can be found Administrative information about the issuer including name, ISIN number, financial year-end, and contact details of key officers, sponsor, auditors etc. Once the listing application has been approved by A2X Exchange, the issuer will be provided with a formal approval letter and a date for listing agreed upon between A2X and the issuer. Once a listing date has been agreed, the issuer (as facilitated by A2X) will be required to provide the market participants with five days’ notice of the proposed listing date through the A2X news service to allow all participants to ensure that their systems are updated to include the new listing and allow for trading from that day. An equivalent JSE SENS announcement is not required to be distributed, but many of the issuers listed on A2X Exchange distributed this notification to the market via SENS. This JSE process is facilitated by the issuer’s sponsor. Communication with the press and other role players then follows: In the past it happened that once the A2X announcement was distributed, the media picked up on the new listing quickly, so it is suggested that the issuer communicates with A2X and agree on a joint approach and message to the press. Once listed on A2X Exchange, the issuer has two more obligations that it is required to comply with: All JSE SENS announcements must also be distributed on the A2X news service. It works best if the issuer copies A2X (a2xns@a2x.co.za) on correspondence with its sponsor in respect of any JSE SENS announcements to ensure that A2X has the announcement in advance of it being distributed on SENS. A2X has an agreement with the JSE that they will not distribute an issuer announcement prior to the announcement going out on JSE SENS. The A2X announcement is activated by the receipt of the real time notification of the SENS release. The issuer must state that it has a secondary listing on A2X Exchange in its annual financial statements Contact details of A2X EXCHANGE All the necessary information on A2X Exchange can be found on the company website. Frequently asked questions When was A2X Exchange founded? A2X Exchange opened its doors for trade on 6 October 2017 but the process to open the exchange already started on 10 October 2014 when the A2X company was founded. What is the A2X model? A2X Exchange adheres to the requirements and principles of the conventional self-regulatory organisation (“SRO”) model and the provision of securities services that has come to be expected from an exchange within the context of the South African financial markets. The A2X rules provide for the supervision of authorised users consistent with international best practice for a fair, efficient and transparent market promoting the protection of clients and investors. Its listings model is consistent with international trends and according to the regulation of issuers with a secondary listing in South Africa. An investor protection fund and exchange fidelity insurance policy are established to assist in achieving all regulatory objectives. How does the A2X model work? A2X Exchange only lists qualifying equity securities, meaning those with a primary listing like on the JSE. A2X Exchange initially targets all securities listed on and traded on the equity trading system of the JSE, hence relying partly on the ‘host’ market to provide the regulation of the issuers of qualifying equity securities. No initial public offerings or capital raisings were offered by A2X Exchange at first and only once the business is up and running, additional products and geographical areas will be considered. What does the A2X IT Infrastructure look like? A2X Exchange has licensed the systems for its core exchange platform from Aquis Exchange, including the matching engine, the surveillance system as well as the clearing platform. Aquis is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to operate a Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF). Aquis Exchange has a high performance, highly scalable and highly resilient matching engine that allows high numbers of fast simultaneous trading connections and transaction capacity designed to process a high volume of messages per day. The Aquis matching engine technology is proven and currently operational on thirteen European markets. The clearing system is integrated to the matching engine using the industry standard Fix protocol. All technology is located and managed in Johannesburg with full redundancy. How does clearing and settlement work with A2X Exchange? The A2X Clearing System manages the clearing and settlement risk process through the use of a number of mechanisms. All members and clients of members must meet the requirement of appointing an approved CSDP and have a custody account and a fund settlement account. A2X Exchange operates a T+3 settlement cycle and has appointed STRATE, with its infrastructure of CSDPs, as its Central Securities Depository (CSD). A2X Trading Rules on Clearing and Settlement prescribe that the overriding principle applied by A2X Exchange is that of settlement assurance, meaning the member is responsible for the settlement of all transaction in equity securities executed on the trading system by them. Where a member trades for a client, if the client does not meet it settlement obligations, the member assumes the client obligations and becomes responsible to settle the transaction and the member is responsible for the settlement of its principal transactions. Members must have a current account for the Capital Exposure Requirement (CER) process and settlement of related fund and other money movements. A2X Exchange has established a Settlement Committee that oversees the clearing and settlement process of all transactions executed on the A2X trading platform. A2X Exchange monitors the financial position of all members and they must comply with the prescribed capital adequacy requirements and remain within the credit limit of the member as prescribed. Is there room for competition in the South African financial market? Sound competition in financial markets has lately become a firmly established principle internationally and the generally accepted consequences of this is being a reduction in direct and indirect costs, product innovation as well as an improved level of service. In 2013, the Financial Markets Act (Act) replaced the Securities Services Act, and Section 2 of this Act deals with competition. The section states that such competition should ensure fair, efficient and transparent South African financial markets and increase confidence in South African financial markets through the following: Provision of securities services in a fair, efficient and transparent way Contribute to maintaining a stable financial market environment Promote the protection of regulated persons, clients and investors Reduce systemic risk Promote international competitiveness of international and domestic financial markets and of securities services in South Africa. Why is it beneficial for companies to have a secondary listing on A2X Exchange? A secondary listing on A2X Exchange complements a company’s primary listing by providing all its investors with a choice of venue to transact. This comes with no negative impact on a company’s primary listing, without any extra cost, risk or additional regulatory burden, while, bringing significant potential benefits to shareholders at the same time. How does A2X Exchange survey and regulate the market? A2X Exchange has the responsibility to ensure a fair and orderly market, therefore it has established a properly qualified and experienced surveillance team. These people are tasked to undertake the surveillance of the market and monitor potential market abuse and exchange rule breaches by users. They do this through the use of a highly sophisticated surveillance system which is provided by Aquis and approved by the United Kingdom’s FCA. This technology allows for cross market surveillance, which is a first in the South African market. Given that there will be two trading venues, how are market abuse provisions be enforced? A2X Exchange uses sophisticated market surveillance technology to ensure effective surveying of the A2X market. The team also receives a live feed from the current operator that is fed into the surveillance system to allow for the identification of indications of possible market abuse across both markets. Any signs of abuse are further investigated, and action is taken when and where required. Why is there is no provision in the A2X rules for brokers to hold trust accounts or segregate client assets? The safekeeping of client assets is the responsibility of the Central Securities Depository Participant (CSDP) who provides custody services as a core element of its business, hence no provision is made for what is known as “controlled clients” – those whose assets are under the control of the member and whose holdings are detailed on BDA. The member has no access to clients’ assets and therefore providing for segregation of clients’ assets is not applicable. Are companies able to raise capital on A2X? Initially companies will not be able to raise capital on A2X Exchange as it is a Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) styled exchange. Multilateral trading facilities allow eligible contract participants to gather and transfer a variety of securities, especially instruments that may not have an official market. As they go along, A2X Exchange plans to investigate expanding geographically product wise and initial public offerings (IPOs) – the process of offering shares of a private corporation to the public in a new stock issuance – will be investigated and considered. Can a company ‘delist’ from A2X Exchange and how would it be done? The listing on A2X Exchange is a secondary listing, authorised by a company to include its shares in the A2X list of shares to be traded on the A2X platform and the process can be reversed. The process to ‘delist’ is quite simple and basically requires the company to advise A2X that it no longer requires the secondary listing. This instruction can be executed within 24 hours without any approval of shareholders or offer to minorities being required, since the company’s primary listing would be unaffected. How is the Investor Protection Fund, set up to deal with the loss of cash securities, funded? An investor protection charge is levied on all trades conducted on A2X Exchange to build up this fund to an appropriate size. 5/5 – (1 vote)

Creator :Louis Schoeman

Published on : 2023-01-17 08:02:49

Source :thenewage

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ECB must keep raising rates to fight off inflation, Lane says

emadmin — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 09:00:11 +0000

FRANKFURT: The European Central Bank must raise interest rates to a level that starts to restrict growth and their peak will depend on how the economy responds to the most rapid policy tightening cycle on record, ECB chief economist Philip Lane told the Financial Times. The ECB has raised rates by a combined 2.5 percentage points since July in an attempt to arrest a historic surge in inflation, but policymakers have already said that more will be needed get price growth, now just below 10%, back to the ECB’s 2% target by around 2025. “We need to raise rates more,” the FT quoted Lane said on Tuesday. “Last year we could say that it’s clear that we need to bring rates up to more normal levels, and now we say, well, actually we need to bring them into restrictive territory.” Although markets now see the 2% deposit rate peaking around 3.3% this summer, Lane took a more cautious approach, arguing that the response of firms, households and governments to the ECB’s moves will be key. Lane also said that euro zone governments, which are spending too much on subsidies now, will have to take on a bigger role in fighting off inflation. “Governments also do need to pull back from the high deficits that remain,” he said. “Significant fiscal adjustment will be needed in coming years.” Inflation will rapidly ease this year but much of this will be due to a “base effect” as the gas price surge gets knocked from year earlier figures and the difficulty may be in ensuring the final phase of disinflation. “The question is how do you get from mid-threes at the end of 2023 to the 2% target in a timely manner,” Lane said. “That’s where interest rate policy is going to be important… to make sure that the last kilometre of returning to target is delivered.” Once rates are high enough to restrict growth, the ECB will need to balance the risk of doing too much versus doing too little and this may be an issue that drags out for the “next year or two,” Lane said. For most of the past decade the ECB fought excessively low inflation and some have argued that the underlying conditions have not changed so ultra low price growth could eventually return, forcing the ECB into retreat. But Lane appears to dismiss this argument, saying that the expectations are now adjusting to a higher, healthier level of price growth. “I don’t think the chronic low-inflation equilibrium we had before the pandemic will return,” he said. – Reuters

Published on : 2023-01-17 06:06:00

Source :thestar_my

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