General SENS Submitter Company - GEN General - JSE Limited

GEN – General - JSE Limited

GEN – General - JSE Limited

JSE’s Proposed New Debt Listing Requirements to be further interrogated

Investors, issuers, certain representative bodies and debt sponsors, among other commentators,
have had their say in response to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s proposed new debt listing
requirements (Part 2 of 2018).

Aimed at advancing greater transparency and improved governance, the JSE released the proposed
amendments, which relate to Corporate Governance Arrangements and the Professional Debt
Segment for public comment in September 2018.

Not only was the JSE pleased with the market response to the proposed amendments to the Debt
Requirements but the level of responses prompted the acceptance of comments beyond the closing
date.

Following its review of all the comments received, the JSE notes that the interests of investors and
issuers seem far apart on the proposed amendments to the Debt Requirements dealing specifically
with -

    •   the introduction of the investor representative; and
    •   the increased corporate governance arrangements applicable to all debt issuers.


Furthermore, reservations were expressed in terms of the balanced achieved in respect of the
Professional Debt Segment, taking into account the interests of issuers and investors.

In order to create a platform where these differences could be discussed and actively debated, the
JSE will aim to arrange a structured event on Thursday, 17 January 2019 to be chaired by Professor
Michael Katz at the JSE inviting interested parties who commented during the public consultation
process to verbally expand their views on these proposed amendments to the Debt Requirements.
The JSE will communicate the agenda and planned structure for the event in due course. In this
regard, taking into account the time and anticipated agenda for the event, the JSE will urge interested
parties with common interests to select a speaker to represent their views.

Therefore, the JSE will hold off on the amendment process to the Debt Requirements to
accommodate a further public consultation process in January 2019.

Reservations and practical considerations were further expressed in respect of the proposed
amendments dealing with –

    •   the repurchase of debt securities; and
    •   the liability of directors of debt issuers in the debt market.

The JSE will reconsider the proposed amendments to address the reservations raised. Other than the
specific items referred to above, the JSE will proceed to consider all comments received in respect of
the other proposed amendments to the Debt Requirements.



14 December 2018

Date: 14/12/2018 03:00:00 Produced by the JSE SENS Department. The SENS service is an information dissemination service administered by the JSE Limited ('JSE'). 
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