The Spanish stock exchange says its new Mercado Alternativo Burstil (MAB) for SICAV mutual funds will start trading on 29 May, having completed all technical trials and received regulatory approval.
Bolsas y Mercados Espaoles (BME) says it has developed MAB to accommodate shares whose specific features cannot be accommodated on the main market. It says MAB will help improve liquidity in SICAVS.
Trials of the new system began on 27 February. Since then, BME has increased its contact with the CNMV, exchange members and SICAVS fund managers in order to explain the technical specifications that affect trading and settlement in the new market.
Trading on MAB will be carried out on the SIBE platform, in contrast to the current outcry model. BME believes this electronic platform will add “dynamism, transparency and liquidity.”
“The whole range of services offered by MAB resolves in large part the administrative and legal complexities involved by the new regulation for these companies,” says a BME spokesman. “The cost of this service for SICAVS is thus 50% lower than that incurred in the floor trading model. MAB will be extended in future to securities other than SICAVS, which, due to their particular features, require specific treatment too. They are low capitalisation companies whose shares are generally affected by low liquidity problems and low visibility among the investing public, which until now have not considered going public due to the listing requirements and the costs associated.”