The National Depository for Securities (KDPW), the Polish CSD, is opening a new direct operational link with Romania. KDPW and Sibex Depository, the securities depository, which settles trades for the Romanian stock exchange Sibex (Sibiu Stock Exchange), signed an agreement in February 2012.
The agreement provides for clearing and settlement of trades in shares of companies dual listed on the WSE and Sibex.
The National Depository for Securities is working actively to enable foreign issuers to be listed on the Warsaw trading floor and for them to raise capital from a broad range of investors present in the Polish market. In our view, Romania is a market with growing opportunities and Romanian issuers seeking capital can take advantage of the offer and the benefits of the Polish stock exchange, its business environment and infrastructure. We believe such a complementary offer may benefit both the Warsaw and the Sibiu stock markets by stimulating their growth, said KDPW President and CEO Iwona Sroka. Opening an operational link with Sibex is yet another step in the implementation of the KDPW Corporate Strategy (2010-2013) with its focus on co-operation with foreign depositories in Central and Eastern Europe, added Iwona Sroka.
“The advantages of the double listed companies, both on the Sibex and Warsaw markets, will be firstly that of attracting capital, and secondly, the respective double listed company will serve as a model of transparency and confidence for all the investors. We would like to mention that this link opens the doors to the most developed capital market from the IPOs and listings point of view of the European Union, said Cristian Sima, president and CEO, Sibex-Sibiu Stock Exchange.
The link with Romania is yet another operational link recently established by KDPW. The National Depository opened a link with Slovenia in 2011 and with Bulgaria, Canada and Lithuania in 2010. Companies from these markets are already listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
KDPW currently maintains 18 operational links with foreign securities depositories, including 9 direct links between KDPW and a foreign CSD (Sibex Depository among them). The other 9 links are indirect links via an international depository (Clearstream Banking Luxembourg or Euroclear Bank) or in the case of Bulgaria via a local financial intermediary.
Currently 46 foreign companies are listed on the markets provided by the Warsaw Stock Exchange 39 on the Main List and 7 on the NewConnect market. Links established by KDPW allow for the listing on the WSE of several foreign companies from countries including Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, UK, USA.