QUESTIONABLE LISTINGS
MAGDA WIERZYCKA: JSE has the means, so why not protect shareholders?
The JSE has a duty to protect investors and discretion as to what securities it lists
At the recent JSE Ltd annual general meeting I questioned the exchange’s reasons for approving listings of companies such as the Guptas’ Oakbay Energy and Resources, as well as Ayo Technology and Sagarmatha Technologies. The listing of Oakbay resulted in more than R250m in losses for the Industrial Development Corporation. Ayo Technology’s share price has collapsed since the R4.3bn investment by the Public Investment Corporation despite blatant propping-up of the share price through small daily transactions. (I have seen days when a single share was traded to keep the price above R30.) The answers I received from the JSE were simple. In terms of its listing requirements it does not have discretion over what it lists provided that the security in question meets listing requirements. It does not have any responsibility to protect investors beyond ensuring that at the point of listing the prelisting statement contains the relevant risk disclosures. It also did not take responsibility f...
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