Seychelles’ first financial exchange gets licence |30 July 2012

This comes after the call for proposals by the Seychelles International Business Authority (Siba) for the establishment and operation of a new securities exchange in Seychelles during April 2011.

Trop-X director, Bobby Brantley, says: “We are excited to have the opportunity to be involved in what will be such an important project for the advancement of the Seychelles financial services sector.  The tender process and resulting pre-licensing requirements were understandably robust but we feel the process resulted in the best solution for Seychelles.  We would like to thank the staff of Siba especially, but also Central Bank, Ministry of Finance and the government of Seychelles in general for their support of this initiative to date.  Trop-X aims to help facilitate the development of Seychelles into the premier financial services hub of the Indian Ocean and Africa and we will need to work with all stakeholders public and private to achieve this.”

The Seychelles government is fully behind the project. Finance, Trade, and Investment Minister, Pierre Laporte, commented that “the launch of the Stock Exchange in Seychelles is much awaited.

It will be an important milestone toward the modernisation of our financial system and our economy as a whole. I have no doubt that this initiative will bring substantial benefits to Seychelles and an initiative that will make all Seychellois proud”.

Trop-X’s proposed multi-asset, multi-currency international exchange will commence with the launch of the equities boards in the fourth quarter of 2012.  Three equities boards will be launched which are the Venture Capital (VCAP), Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) and Main Boards.  Bonds and derivatives boards are proposed for launch during the first half of 2013.

Securities exchanges tend to facilitate substantial revenues for those who take part in the securities sector working around the exchange.  The industries which directly support the securities industry would include trustee/corporate services, secretarial services, banking, accounting/auditing, corporate advisory, investment services, fund administrators, legal and more. 

“We hope to attract as much of this revenue to Seychelles as possible leveraging and developing the existing infrastructure.  As such, local businesses and professionals operating in these industries should begin preparing and thinking of ways in which they would like to participate in this new industry, updating/upgrading professional qualifications and securities related knowledge where needed and potentially considering strategic partnerships with overseas firms who operate in this segment,” Mr Brantley said.

Any local companies which may have an interest in listing on the new securities exchange should contact  Trop-X, who would be happy to forward a draft of their draft Listing Requirements and make introduction to approved sponsor advisors who are accepted by Trop-X to provide pre-listing and ongoing listing advice to issuers. 

“There are many benefits to listing even if the company is not in need of raising additional capital at the time.  Listed companies trade at higher multiples to earnings providing an opportunity for existing shareholders to sell shares in a market which accesses a much larger potential pool of buyers at any time of their choosing.

Listed companies also enjoy other benefits such as free promotion due to their presence in media, higher degrees of trust with the public and brand building.  Additionally it should be noted that a listing does not mean that all of the shares of the company must be sold. 

Indeed it is common for only 10% or so of the issued capital to be offered either by the company or existing shareholders as part of an initial listing.  The preparation process typically takes several months so if any parties are interested in listing and being part of the launch we would advise that preparations begin now,” commented Mr Brantley.

For any submissions or requests for further information Mr Brantley can be contacted at bobby@trop-x.com

Contributed