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Johannesburg - The JSE’s separate board for black economic empowerment (BEE ) shares could be launched in February next year.
Plans for this board – which would serve as a trading platform for the BEE shares of listed companies – were announced earlier this year.
JSE chief executive Russell Loubser previously said that the purpose of this bourse was to effect greater liquidity for these shares.
BEE shares can generally not be traded for a predetermined time, unless they are sold to other black buyers.
The BEE board will be a trading platform for BEE shares where black investors can buy and sell these shares in periods during which these shares cannot be freely traded.
According to Loubser, Sasol [JSE:SOL] is the only company that expressed interest in such a market. A couple of other companies have since approached the JSE to make use of the same type of service.
The JSE was ready to launch the board in September this year, but Sasol still needed to sort itself out. The current plan is for a February launch.
Another division in which the JSE expects to see greater growth is the Africa Board. This bourse is still experiencing difficulties.
After its announcement at the end of 2008, it attracted only two companies. The first listing was Trustco in February 2009 and in April this year Wilderness Safari moved onto the board.
Loubser said the JSE had hoped that by this time there would be more companies on this board. It had expected to have had five companies, but there were only two.
The JSE’s relationship with the rest of Africa has always been a thorny issue, largely because of the perception of the local bourse held by other countries on the continent.
Loubser had previously expressed frustration at African countries' inherent mistrust of South Africa.
