WATCH: Delisting crisis requires capital markets reform

SA’s capital markets are in a state of existential crisis. There is a global trend towards fewer listed companies with the rise of private markets, but in SA the delisting deluge is acute.

Twenty-five companies delisted from the JSE in 2021, with just seven new listings in the same period. This year we are sitting on another 20 delistings and we are scarcely into the second quarter.

We should all encourage the JSE to make itself more attractive to new listings but we should also consider the negative role played by the policymakers in the Treasury and the underlying structural concerns raised by Paul Miller recently, which point to a playing field favouring large investment institutions over small retail investors.

Business Day TV spoke to Leon Campher, outgoing CEO of the Association for Savings and Investment SA; Chris Logan of Opportune Investments; and David Holland of Fractal Value Advisors.