ATHEX plans changes to market regulation
The Athens Exchange Group is planning changes in market regulation aimed at boosting its prestige and trading activity, and upgrading the investment profile of listed companies from early 2024, the CEO of ATHEX Group Yiannos Kontopoulos told reporters last week.
These changes will include the introduction of a minimum capitalization for listing on the main market, mandatory adherence to an adequate outstanding shares criteria, enhancing the institution of primary dealer, facilitating new listings and limiting the time spent on monitoring and suspension.
According to the new regulation, any company seeking listing on the market should have a capitalization of more than 40 million euros, while companies with a capitalization of less than €200 million should have a mandatory percentage of outstanding shares of at least 25%, while for companies with a capitalization of more than €200 million the percentage of outstanding shares should not be less than 15%.
ATHEX is also preparing a new pricing policy for its members and plans to offer incentives to achieve goals of higher turnover and improve liquidity in the market.
The new policy will be compatible with pricing policies adopted by other European markets.
Kontopoulos said the Greek market was expected to be placed under the “watch list for an upgrade” into a developed market in the second half of 2024, signaling to investors to raise their positions on local stocks.
