Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) has announced that its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Thapelo Tsheole has been elected Chairman of the Committee of SADC Stock Exchanges (CoSSE) with immediate effect. John Kamanga, Chief Executive Officer of the Malawi Stock Exchange has been elected as Deputy Chairman of CoSSE.
The election took place at the just ended 53rd CoSSE meeting held on the 22nd March, 2018 in Maseru, Lesotho. As Chairman, Tsheole, takes over from Zeona Jacobs of the Johannesburg Securities Exchanges (JSE).
In responding to his election as Chairman of CoSSE, Tsheole, expressed his profound appreciation in being entrusted with this important role of Chairman for the next two years, and highlighted the impending task of developing SADC stock exchanges. He also expressed gratitude for the trust and confidence bestowed upon him by CoSSE members.
CoSSE was formed in 1996 with the objective of improving the operational, regulatory and technical underpinnings and capabilities of SADC Exchanges in order to make their securities markets more attractive to both regional and international investors. The committee also aims to increase market liquidity and enhance trading in various securities and financial instruments, as well as encourage the development of a harmonized securities market environment within the SADC region. Currently, the membership of the committee comprises of fourteen (14) stock exchanges from thirteen (13) countries.
Some notable market development projects that CoSSE has worked on include increasing trading within members, harmonisation of listings requirement to promote listings and increase the quality of the rules, collaboration with the SADC Banking Association on an initiative to develop a SADC Delivery versus Payment (DvP) settlement model which would be used for the settlement of cross-border securities.
The committee also worked on the SADC Interconnectivity Hub Project, the first phase of which was the organisation of the SADC Brokers’ Network Session in 2016. Following this session, CoSSE launched a regional portal that provides SADC exchanges and brokers with a centralised platform to encourage broker interaction with the hope of increasing cross border trades within the region. The portal facilitates the flow of information related to each SADC market.