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- NewConnect has been granted the SME Growth Market (SME MTF) status
- Disclosure requirements under MAR are relaxed for issuers listed on SME Growth Markets
- Prospectus requirements are also relaxed for issuers listed on SME Growth Markets
- The European Commission in its Capital Market Union initiative is working to offer additional facilitations to companies listed on SME Growth Markets
The Polish Financial Supervision Authority has approved the classification of GPW’s alternative trading system NewConnect as an SME Growth Market (SME MTF). According to Polish regulations implementing MiFID II, multilateral trading facilities (MTFs) which meet the criteria laid down in Article 78g of the Act on Trading in Financial Instruments are eligible to apply for the SME Growth Market status. Four European markets have been granted the SME Growth Market status.
“As the organiser of the alternative trading system NewConnect, GPW always strives to improve the attractiveness and transparency of this market segment. With the SME Growth Market status granted to GPW’s ATS, certain obligations imposed on issuers present on the market under MAR and the Prospectus Regulation will be relaxed. The European Commission attaches great importance to improving access of SMEs to capital. The key objective is to provide small and mid-sized companies with new sources of capital through capital markets and to reduce the cost of raising capital. In view of the Commission’s Capital Markets Union initiative and efforts currently taken under the initiative, we expect more facilitations for issuers listed in the alternative trading system in the future,” said Piotr Borowski, Member of the GPW Management Board.
The SME Growth Market status relaxes certain obligations for issuers under MAR (requirements for maintaining records of access to inside information and for publication of inside information) as well as prospectus requirements. The European Commission is working to simplify the procedure of transfers from MTFs to regulated markets.
Article 33 of Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on markets in financial instruments and amending Directive 2002/92/EC and Directive 2011/61/EU (MiFID II) introduces a new category of multilateral trading facilities: SME Growth Market (SME MTF in the Act on Trading in Financial Instruments). The provisions of the Directive are implemented in Polish law under the amendment of the Act of 29 June 2005 on Trading in Financial Instruments (“Trading Act”) which took effect on 21 April 2018.
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The Warsaw Stock Exchange Group (GPW Group) operates trading platforms for shares, Treasury and corporate bonds, derivatives, electricity and gas, and provides indices and benchmarks including WIBOR and WIBID. The index agent FTSE Russell classifies the Polish capital market as a Developed Market since 2018. The markets operated by the GPW Group are the biggest in Central and Eastern Europe. For more information, visit www.gpw.pl
