ASIC today released a market assessment report on the Bendigo Stock Exchange Limited (BSX).
The report covers the period between 2006 and 2008. During this period, the Bendigo Exchange operator was afforded time to with issues arising from the high numbers of Bendigo Bank community bank franchises listed on the exchange. Ninety per cent of the listing on the BSX were community bank franchises.
Issues arose in respect to ASIC’s expectations about how listing rules in areas such as continuous disclosure should operate and the practical issues this presented for community-based franchises.
However towards the end of the period covered by the report, ASIC’s assessment noted a decline in the number of community banking franchises listing on the Bendigo Exchange. ASIC believes this, together with agreed actions to deal with supervision, have dealt with ASIC’s concerns.
In terms of BSX’s overall arrangements for supervising its market, ASIC regarded that at the time of the 2007 and 2008 assessments significant improvement was required. ASIC believed that better supervision of listed entities was required, that the BSX compliance committee’s oversight of supervisory arrangements needed to be strengthened and the board needed to improve its governance of supervisory functions.
A range of agreed actions were identified to rectify these issues. These actions included a greater formalisation of the role of the BSX compliance committee and guidance to listed entities on forecasts and continuous disclosure requirements.
Since the 2007 and 2008 assessments, ASIC believes the agreed actions now mean the BSX can adequately meet its market supervision obligations.
The current assessment of BSX will continue to scrutinise both the implementation and practical effectiveness of these agreed actions.
Background
As at 30 June 2008, the BSX had three market participants and 60 listed entities. For the year ending 30 June 2008, 468 trades were recorded worth $6.7 million. Negligible trading occurred in the community banking franchises.
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