The CEO of Six, the Swiss parent company of Bolsas y Mercados Españolas (BME), Bjorn Sibbern, has stressed that, despite the possible influence of the conflict in the Middle East on the markets, companies are maintaining their plans to debut their listings and no cancellations are occurring.
"If they have something in hand, they either do it or postpone it. Given the uncertainty we see at the moment, it is possible that some will delay it a bit, but we are not seeing cancellations," he reiterated during a meeting with the press.
Sibbern detailed that "at least" one company is considering using the Easy Access procedure, the most flexible route to the stock market, authorized by the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) a year ago.
The head of Six also highlighted the seven new additions to the Spanish Stock Exchange so far this year: two debuts (Arteche and TSK) and five companies that have moved to be traded on growth markets. "The Spanish stock market is probably one of the most popular IPO markets," he stated.
According to him, this dynamism is largely supported by BME Scaleup and BME Growth, although he admitted that their goal is "to have more large companies." In his opinion, a larger base of small investors is key to consolidating the market.
"We appreciate the effort this product entails, but in reality, if we achieve greater retail participation, it will help retail investors be much more active in the equity market and will also contribute to more companies becoming interested in listing because we will have better liquidity," he pointed out.
In this regard, he argued that companies that access BME Scaleup and BME Growth "gain the experience of being a listed company" and train themselves to move to broader markets. "It is a way of learning and turning a small company into a large one," he added.
Repatriation of Debt Emissions
In the fixed income area, Banco Santander and Banco Sabadell have requested since the beginning of the year to transfer to Spain a bond program that was previously registered in Dublin and Luxembourg.
Regarding this strategy, Sibbern indicated that at BME they have strengthened their commercial team "a bit more" and that it is essential to offer alternatives to issuers.
"It is a combination of analyzing fees, the process, and working with regulators to facilitate it," explained the CEO of Six.
Savings and Investment Account for Retail Investors
Regarding small savers, the executive recalled that in Spain the creation of a specific savings and investment account is being analyzed, although the tax treatment still needs to be finalized. In this regard, he insisted that "taxation is a political matter."
"I hope we all achieve it because the benefits for individuals are significant, with simpler taxes," he pointed out, adding that companies also benefit if their access to capital is facilitated, which drives their growth and job creation.
At the beginning of the year, BME proposed an investment account scheme for retail investors inspired by Sweden's 'ISK Accounts', which in Spain would be called the Personal Investment Plan (PPI).
Call for Deregulation in Europe
On another note, the CEO of Six insisted that "Europe needs to get its act together in terms of being smarter about regulation, including deregulation."
"I think it's a good opportunity for Europe to take a step back and deregulate in certain areas," he stated.
As an example, he referred to the stock market business, where, he said, supervision is very intense: "We have no problem with that, but sometimes one can always be a little smarter about regulation."