BSE targets new listings

• As bourse launches Investor Compensation Fund
• P28 million fund to boost the investors’ confidence
• BSE CEO Tsheole upbeat on further growth of ETFs

BAKANG TIRO

editors@thepatriot.co.bw

Botswana Stock Exchange Limited (BSE) CEO Thapelo Tsheole says the newly launched BSE Investor Compensation Fund will enhance competitiveness of the BSE.

Speaking in an interview, Tsheole said the new fund will stimulate BSE’s growth. According to him, the local bourse is attractive as evidenced through new listings of the Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), especially in 2021.

He said they are working on new local listings where significant progress has been made.

“We have a pipeline from our listings framework. It is only that listings by their nature takes a long time because companies need to put in place a number of changes to ready themselves to listing,” said upbeat  BSE CEO, adding  BSE anticipate rise in local and foreign listings driven by the fund.

Speaking at the launch of the investor compensation fund, BSE chairperson Lieutenant General Tebogo Masire said the investor compensation fund is aimed to cushion investor against losses.

He said the fund is established at the tune of P28 million to compensate their investors should they encounter financial losses due to fraud, adding that the fund will grow BSE as well.

Lt General Masire indicated that the stock exchanges need to be agile and responsive to the global trends as well as their stakeholder needs hence BSE keen to revolutionise the stock market.

“The fund is not a form of payment to the investor but it’s a compensation of money to those who will find themselves being scammed their funds. We are aiming to cushion the investors against the impacts of losing funds. Investor will contribute P5000 to the fund per year,” he said.

 In addition Masire, BSE have grown exponentially over the years owing to investments made.

“The robustness and attractiveness of any stock exchange across the world depends on its capability to innovate. The BSE embarked on transformation journey that allowed us to have state of the art technology such as the Central Security Depository (CSD) and the Automated Trading System (ATS). BSE with the investor fund will be key player in global financial markets,” said Masire.

Masire emphasized that the Investor Compensation Fund came alive as a result of key collaboration between the stock exchange, regulator NBFIRA and the Ministry of Finance.

For her part, the board chairperson of the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) Malebogo Kabomo said the BSE plays an important role towards the growth of the economy.

 She said the development of Botswana’s capital markets remains a high priority on the government’s agenda as vehicle of luring foreign direct investment in the form of issuers, investors and domestic listings.

 “The collective effort in strategic initiatives such as the Investor Compensation Fund paves the way for increased activity at the BSE in terms of the increased liquidity, promotion of a diverse investor base, and profitability for the Exchange as well as the efficient mobilisation of financial resources to support the real economy,” underscored Kabomo, while assuring the BSE of NBFIRA’s support.

According to the BSE, the BSE investor compensation fund has been established to in order to amongst other things grant a compensation to investors for financial losses suffered as a result of a participant failure to meet their contractual needs and it is targeting the retail investors. The rules of the fund have been approved by the stock markets regulator – NBFIRA.