WSE promises more changes in 2001
By : Alexander Stocks
A month after the new Warset IT framework brought speed and online integration to the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE), the exchange continues to catch up to its Western counterparts by offering new investment products.
Early in the new year, a revamped structure for initial public offerings (IPO) means that companies will no longer be required to offer subscriptions prior to selling shares over the exchange or to wait several weeks before listing.
"I hope that more than 70% of companies will do it this way in the future," said Piotr Kaminski, the WSE's administrative vice president. He said the change meant that companies would now be able list faster and that it would save money.
Another change will allow companies to offer secondary share issues over the primary market. Currently, only IPOs are offered over the primary market.
In addition, a handful of other investment tools are in the planning stages, including subscription warrants, which are rights granted to buy shares at a set price, and limited institutional bonds, Kaminski said.
Developing a market for other types of bonds and an over-the-counter market are the WSE's other near-term goals, he said.
When Warset launched on Nov. 17, it was known that order placing would be introduced once the old and new IT systems were integrated and brokers demonstrated that they had enough clients. Kaminski said stop-loss and other orders will be available from the end of January or middle of February.
The changes are all part of an evolutionary process, Kaminski said. As the WSE brings its product line in step with those of its Western counterparts, it's becoming more competitive globally and increasing its chances of getting absorbed by a larger exchange or creating an alliance with a regional one.
WSE President Wieslaw Rozlucki was recently quoted as saying that Euronext a company formed through the merger of the Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam exchanges that markets the WSE's Warset IT system would be the most beneficial partner for the WSE because of their similar systems, which could be easily integrated.
