Johannesburg Exchange Boss Nicky Newton-King Braces for Competition

南非的基础设施可能需要很多需要，但该国的证券交易所正在升级。为了跟上竞争日益增长的竞争，约翰内斯堡证券交易所已经开始了一个长期的项目，将其所有市场集中在一个更快的交易平台和新的清算系统上。

The effort comes as ZAR X, the first new South African exchange in more than a century, prepares to open for business in September, blazing a trail for more would-be domestic rivals to the JSE. But CEO Nicky Newton-King isn’t too worried about the competition. “We don’t have a statutory monopoly; nor do we have a divine right to exist,” says Newton-King, 49, who became the JSE’s first female chief executive in 2012. “Therefore it’s important that absolutely everything we do, we do better every day.”

今年标志着JSE的20周年结束交易楼层，全面焕然一新;平均每日交易量为2.7亿股，非洲大陆的最大交易所继续投资速度。四年前，它将股票市场与由斯里兰卡的千禧年开发的交易引擎升级，伦敦证券交易所集团的一家分支机构，使执行速度速度速度速度较快。

The exchange is in the process of migrating its derivatives and fixed-income markets onto the MillenniumIT platform, with equity and currency derivatives scheduled to go live next year. Concurrently, each asset class will be shifted onto a new, real-time clearing system developed by Stockholm-based Cinnober Financial Technology. “I think markets that offer less than what their clients are used to in their home countries will struggle to attract the kind of attention they might otherwise,” Newton-King says.

The JSE has also been trying to innovate ahead of potential competitors arising within South Africa’s borders, the Cape Town native adds. ZAR X — the first of several applicants to receive a stock exchange license — has grown out of an over-the-counter trading platform focused on restricted-share schemes, such as those used in South Africa to boost black ownership in companies. It will have little to no overlap with JSE products, at least for now. However, one application waiting in the wings, the 4 Africa Exchange (4AX), plans to go toe to toe with the giant JSE. The main advantage that start-up exchanges have over incumbents is the lack of legacy technology that can drive up costs and slow transaction speeds. For example, ZAR X offers same-day clearing and settlement, whereas the JSE spent the past half year upgrading its systems to shorten its settlement cycle from five days to three, as of July 11. The JSE is also adding block trading facilities to its equities market in September.

“While there isn’t another bricks-and-mortar exchange, we in fact have a vigorous level of competition in almost all of our products,” says Newton-King, who holds a master of laws degree from the University of Cambridge and joined the exchange in 1996 after serving it as an attorney for Johannesburg-based law firm Webber Wentzel.

The JSE competes with local banks for trading currencies and bonds and with global exchanges for dual-listed securities likeBelgian megabrewer Anheuser-Busch Inbev, which listed on the JSE in January in anticipation of the completion of its $108 billion takeover of South Africa’s pride and joy, SABMiller.

More competition isn’t the only threat to the JSE’s ability to win the hearts of foreign investors. Scandals around the ruling African National Congress, coupled with slowing growth, have damaged confidence in South Africa and put its credit rating at risk of being cut to junk status in December. In the first five months of this year, the JSE saw 55 billion rand ($3.8 billion) in foreign capital outflows from its equities market, though investors returned at the end of June chasing opportunities to profit from Britain’s decision to leave the European Union.

In March, Newton-King joinedFinance Minister Pravin Gordhan在伦敦的一场道路上，竞标以缓解投资者对南非政治稳定，增长前景和高收入不平等的担忧。“交易所是真正经济和资本市场的有趣的Nexus，”她说。“一方面，我们必须经营一个高度奏效的世界级资本市场，另一方面，我们必须非常清楚地对我们的人服务并帮助真正的经济向前发展。”

Follow Jess Delaney on Twitter at@jdelaney_NYC.