Johannesburg - South African stock exchange operator JSE Ltd hopes to list platinum exchange traded fund (ETF) on the bourse this year as it looks to capitalise on increasing investor appetite for commodity-based products.
"It's (platinum ETF) a few months away at least still, even if the market conditions are right. I'm hoping that it will be this year," JSE Chief Operating Officer Leanne Parsons told Reuters in an interview on Friday.
Parsons said the JSE was also looking at launching an Africa ETF in South Africa, which would trade blue chip firms from other big economies on the continent, particularly Egypt, Kenya and Nigeria. The firms did not have to be listed on the JSE, she said.
ETFs are listed and traded on a securities exchange and track an index, sector or commodity, offering medium to long-term investment returns with relatively little risk.
The JSE is awaiting final regulatory approval for Block X, a dark pool which it plans to start by the beginning of June to aid in doing large trades without having a market impact on costs, Parsons said.
Dark pools are trading venues that allow buyers and sellers of large stock orders to avoid revealing pre-trade information and signalling their intentions to the rest of the market.
- Reuters