AltX, the JSE`s alternative exchange for small and medium businesses, opened for trading this morning, despite no companies having yet been approved for listing.
"The designated advisers and AltX advisory committee have been very careful regarding the nature and quality of companies that are suitable for AltX," says AltX manager Noah Greenhill.
"While many companies are investigating the possibility of listing on AltX in the near future, a suitable candidate is yet to appear before the AltX advisory committee, which consists of a number of market experts. However, we are confident of successful listing shortly."
JSE CEO Russell Loubser says it "would have been easy to fudge. We could have compromised a principle here and a principle there and had 10 or 20 companies. But we are sticking to the principles."
He says the JSE made mistakes in the past where listings requirements were not strict enough and the climate was conducive to any company listing. "We didn`t have a mechanism to catch it upfront."
However, he says the JSE will not be bullied into lowering its standards with regard to the criteria for listing on AltX, which is seen as a stepping-stone to the main boards.
AltX listings requirements emphasise the initial and continuing disclosure of company information and there is also a focus on the enhancement of the skills of directors of AltX companies with a compulsory four-day directors` induction programme offered by the Wits Business School and the Institute of Directors.
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