JSE makes it easier to list in 2026

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JIMMY MOYAHA: The Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the JSE, in late December received approval for amendments to the listing requirements it wanted to make. It put together simplified listing requirements to hopefully make the listing process on our local bourse a lot easier. These were approved by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, the FSCA, in late December.

We’re going to be looking at these in a bit more detail with the director of Issuer Regulation at the JSE, Andre Visser, who joins me on the line to see what we make of this.

Andre, lovely having you on the show. Thanks so much for taking the time. Let’s start with the need for the simplified requirements. What brought about this need and this change?

ANDRE VISSER: Good afternoon Jimmy, thank you for the opportunity.

Jimmy, the simplification project that was launched by the JSE in September 2023 was basically driven by feedback that we received – that our requirements over time had become overly complex and contributed to the higher cost of regulation and being listed on the exchange.

If you couple that with engagements that we had with the market, the number of delistings we’ve seen and the lack of new listings on the exchange, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to relook at the requirements and simplify things,

So that we could, number one, attract new listings to the market and make sure our listings framework is as competitive as possible.

And, very importantly, make it easier for companies that are currently listed to comply with their requirements while still maintaining transparency and investor protection.

JIMMY MOYAHA: Andre, we know this is not the only initiative that the JSE has been putting in place an effort to modernise our local bourse and continue to be the best exchange on the African continent – which we already are.

I want to look at the specifics around the simplification process and what that now means for newer listings. Can we get a sense of what any company looking to list in 2026 – how they would face a different process from perhaps that of the likes of a Cell C which listed last year, and some of the other companies like Optasia and Boxer that listed most recently.

How would the new requirements differ from what we know now?

ANDRE VISSER: Jimmy, I think that’s very important because obviously attracting new listings is one of our key focus areas.

Although volume was not the main aim of the initiative, the overall listing requirements prior to implementation of the new rules spanned over more than 400 pages – and if you look at the simplified version that is in place now, it has been reduced by more than 50%.

Firstly, new companies will find it much easier to navigate the requirements to understand what the obligations are and what needs to be complied with.

So certainly it will be much easier for them to assess the requirements.

If you look at new listings specifically, what we’ve done – and one of the main initiatives there – was to harmonise our listing requirements with respect to pre-listing statements or prospectuses with that of the Companies Act.

Very often there would be a difference between what the Companies Act would prescribe and what we [had] in our listing requirements. We think that harmonising it to one set of standards that is applicable to any company wanting to list on the JSE will go a long way in making it easier for those companies.

And then there are obviously matters on financial reporting.

We’ve specifically focused on making it easier for companies to produce information in the pre-listing statement, [in terms of] the length of financial reporting that needs to be provided to shareholders.

So there are a number a of initiatives that will impact new companies specifically and make it easier for them to list; but then, once they are listed, also make it much easier for them to comply with the requirements as I said earlier, while maintaining proper investor protection and transparency.

JIMMY MOYAHA: Speaking of that investor protection and transparency, Andre, I want to look at the fact that, even with all these adjustments and changes that the JSE is undergoing, the integrity of our exchange is not in question here. We are not in any way jeopardising that. We are still putting forward what we do know to be the best exchange on the African continent; we are just making it even more attractive for individuals to be part of that exchange.

ANDRE VISSER: Jimmy, that’s absolutely correct.

The position that the JSE has taken is that is that we need to compete with international markets – number one in terms of attracting listings, but very importantly attracting international capital from international investors.

The only way you do that is by having a framework that is robust, that provides investor protection and specifically provides the protection they are accustomed to on other international markets.

So I think this brings us much closer to – and in some cases ahead of – our international peers in terms of the ease of listing.

And if you look specifically at Germany in terms of new listings, the JSE has introduced over time a fast-track listing process; and the new requirements that are effective for new applicants from the 13th of January specifically now allow fast-track listings from 18 international stock exchanges.

What that means for those companies is that getting access to our market will be streamlined. It will be very easy for them to get listed, but investors will still have enough information to make informed investment decisions.

JIMMY MOYAHA: Andre, when we look at these new listing processes, we know that back in 2024 the main board was split kind of into two main segments, [one] for the larger corporations and [one] for the smaller firms.

This will affect all listings alike, regardless of whether it’s a large firm listing or a small firm listing. We are going to be applying the same ease of standard to all listings – is that correct?

ANDRE VISSER: Jimmy, yes. That’s correct. These new reforms are applicable to all companies, but we will still have specific requirements that are applicable to our general segment on the main board.

So that initiative that we launched in 2024 – referred to as market segmentation – is part of a package of reforms that we’ve introduced in recent years.

And there will still be relief for those smaller companies listed on the main board that it will make it easier for them to remain listed, so that remains.

But these initiatives that we’re introducing now are initiatives that will be applicable across the board to all unlisted companies.

JIMMY MOYAHA: Andre, before I let you go, I want to get your thoughts on what 2026 holds. We know that we have been seeing a bit of an uptick in listings of late. We’ve also been seeing a decrease in the number of listings and, going into 2026, we know that there’s already been talk of companies like Coca-Cola Beverages Africa intending to list on the bourse at some point in this year.

I want to get your thoughts on the attractiveness of our local bourse. We’ve seen some companies even look to South Africa for secondary listings with primary listings outside South Africa. That speaks to a different level of confidence that international investors have in our exchange.

ANDRE VISSER: Jimmy, that’s absolutely correct. If you look at market segmentation – together with our fast-track listings framework and now the simplified listing requirements – we think from a regulatory perspective the JSE is very well positioned to attract new listings to our market.

Some of those companies you’ve mentioned have already alluded to the fact that they want to get listed on the exchange.

So we think we have a very attractive offering for companies, but also a very attractive offering for investors. And we think we’re very well positioned.

But it’s important to make the point that the framework that we put in place is an enabling framework – and listings or delistings, to a large extent as you mentioned in your intro, are driven by what happens internationally as well.

We are joined at the hip with the economy. So I think what we’re seeing in terms of an increase in growth rates in South Africa, the stronger rand, the uptick in commodity prices, the rewriting that we’ve gone through as a country – all those things contribute to the general ecosystem in making South Africa as attractive as possible for new listings.

So this initiative is the JSE playing its part in putting that enabling environment in place. We’re very positive about being in a good position at this stage.

JIMMY MOYAHA: It has now become easier to list on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, thanks to the JSE’s simplification efforts, which have been in the works for the past three years, finally getting over the line.

And even with that simplification, the JSE remains the safest and best exchange on the African continent.

We’ll leave the conversation on that note. Thanks so much to Andre Visser, the director for Issuer Regulation at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, joining us to take a look at the simplification of listing requirements.

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