THE JSE hopes to list a platinum exchange traded fund (ETF) this year as it looks to capitalise on increasing investor appetite for commodity-based products.
The platinum ETF “is a few months away at least still, even if the market conditions are right. I’m hoping that it will be this year,” chief operating officer Leanne Parsons said on Friday.
Parsons said the JSE was also looking at launching an Africa ETF in SA, which would trade blue-chip firms from other big economies on the continent, particularly Egypt, Kenya and Nigeria. The firms did not have to be listed on the JSE, she said.
ETFs are listed and traded on a securities exchange and track an index, sector or commodity, offering medium- to long-term investment returns with relatively little risk.
The JSE was awaiting final regulatory approval for Block X, a dark pool which it plans to start by the beginning of next month to aid conducting large trades without having a market effect on costs, Parsons said.
Dark pools are trading venues that allow buyers and sellers of large stock orders avoid revealing pre-trade information and signalling their intentions to the rest of the market. Reuters
