Acquisition International - Offshore Excellence Awards 2017 7 Most Dynamic Stock Exchange of the Year 2017 The International Stock Exchange With a business established in 1998, today there are more than 2,200 listed securities on TISE, predominantly comprising investment vehicles and specialist debt securities, with a total market capitalisation of £400bn. Due to the global nature of the exchange, its name changed from the CISE to TISE on 6 March 2017. This development reflects the fact that while most exchanges have a focus on catering for their domestic markets, TISE is already dominated by a wide variety of international companies who have investors from many different parts of the world. During 2016, the market capitalisation of all listed securities grew by £36bn (10%) and compared to the previous year, there was an 18.7% increase in newly listed securities. The 502 securities listed in 2016 included 5 equity securities, 12 closed ended investment securities, 7 open ended investment securities, with the remainder being various forms of debt. One of the equity listings, in June, was the parent company of the Exchange entities. No new capital was raised and it was simply an introduction of the existing shares in issue but it shows that we are willing to live by the rules set down by our subsidiary which operates and regulates the Exchange and it demonstrates that it is a potential path which other companies can also follow. Other listings during the year included: convertible bonds being issued by companies with equity listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange or AIM quoted companies; high yield bonds seeking a non-EU exchange following the introduction of the EU’s Market Abuse Regulations (MAR); and in December, a world-first, when we became the first exchange venue globally to admit a regulated bitcoin fund. Fiona outlines how in recent months there has also been an increase in the number of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) listing. “Previously a number of UK REITs had listed on the Exchange but, following a pause during mid-2016 either side of the Brexit vote, there has since been a resurgence. This reflects the renewed interest in UK real estate as international investors, including sovereign wealth funds, seek to take advantage of the ‘cheaper’ property market resulting from revaluations and currency movements. The International Stock Exchange (TISE) was, until March this year, known as the Channel Islands Securities Exchange (CISE) but the change of name is only one of a number of significant developments in the last 12 months as the Exchange has seen new business growth and positioned itself for the future. We invited Fiona Le Poidevin, CEO of The International Stock Exchange Group, to talk us through these exciting developments and how they are helping the organisation to build upon its current success. Company: The International Stock Exchange Group Limited Contact: Fiona Le Poidevin Email:
[email protected] Address: PO Box 623 Helvetia Court, Block B, 3rd Floor, Les Echelons, St Peter Port, GY1 1AR, Guernsey Phone: 01481 753 000 Website: www.tisegroup.com OE170013 “Our regime has proved particularly attractive for REITs where there are a small number of institutional investors, although there has been a more recent trend towards us attracting more widely held REITs wishing to trade on the Exchange. Today a quarter of all UK REITs are listed on TISE.” Brexit has caused significant uncertainty in the UK but, as Fiona discusses, TISE is potentially able to provide assistance, in particular to Small and Medium sized Enterprises. “With Brexit looming, SMEs are already facing squeezed bank lending (since the financial crisis), alternative financing such as peer-to-peer lending or crowdfunding remains limited in scale, owners are often worried about the loss of control afforded by private equity and a listing on a major stock exchange is often prohibitively expensive and/or a bureaucratic process. To support them through this challenging period, TISE provides a complementary offering to those which already exist and by acting as an ‘incubator’ exchange we can oil the wheels of economic growth in the UK, where Brexit has created such uncertainty. “The fact that TISE has offices in the three British Crown Dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man, which are in the UK time zone but outside the EU, means that we are well positioned to provide the certainty and stability to help support UK SMEs, and therefore the wider UK economy, through Brexit.” Looking to the future, Fiona is optimistic as she discusses the latest developments in TISE’s rebrand and how these will help the Exchange to grow even further and support a wider range of clients. “Moving forward, to help facilitate this business, we are currently reviewing the Chapter 6 listing rules for trading companies to ensure that they are fit for purpose, we are looking to enhance our trading system and thereby together help attract more brokers and investor groups to participate in our market. “These are the next set of significant developments which we will look to bring forward to continue to grow the business and support the significant interest which has been generated by our rebrand to TISE.”