Australia’s struggling share market operator, the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), is facing more competition with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) approving Cboe Australia’s (Cboe) listing market application.
This brings to four the number of markets licensed to list securities in Australia: ASX, National Stock Exchange of Australia (NSX), Sydney Stock Exchange (SSX) and Cboe.
ASIC said Cboe would be able to list new companies on its platform in competition with ASX and other market operators, giving Australians access to more investment options, initial public offerings and dual-listed foreign entities.
The decision reinforced ASIC’s commitment to promote a vibrant and attractive local listing market.
“Australia’s capital markets are strong and resilient, but they must continue to adapt to evolving global market dynamics and meet the future needs of our economy,” ASIC Chair Joe Longo said in a media release.
“This move will provide more choice for companies to list in Australia, build more links to offshore markets and create more options for investors, which is good news for the Australian economy.”
Launched in Australia in 2011 as Chi-X Australia, Cboe accounts for 20% of Australia’s equity market turnover, representing almost $2 billion of trades each day, but until now could not list new companies.
ASX, the dominant player, has been beset by operational problems in recent years, including the botched replacement of its clearing and settlement system and trading system outages.
On 11 September 2024, ASIC granted an Australian clearing and settlement facility license to FinClear Pty Ltd (trading as FCX), which connects buyers and sellers of shares in private companies during intermittent trading events.
At the time of writing, ASX (ASX: ASX) shares were trading $1.229 (2.09%) lower at $57.63, capitalising the company at A$11.43 billion (US$7.56 billion).
