NZSE Managing Director Bill Foster said that the NZSE Debt Market will provide better access to information on the value of listed interest rate securities and improve the visibility and transparency of the market for investors.
"Investors benefit from the NZSE providing not only an efficient way for them to buy and sell securities but also the opportunity to trade in interest rate securities in the same way as equities through the FASTER Trading System".
"Earlier this year the NZSE established a task force of experienced industry practioners to investigate how we could improve the services we offered to people interested in issuing or trading debt securities," Mr Foster said. "The market that we have formally relaunched today is the result of the excellent work done by the task force".
Information about the NZSE Debt Market is available to newspapers as regularly updated tables that can be published, as well as from the new website, www.debtmarket.co.nz. In addition to updated trading information, the website also provides details on the securities themselves and has an educational focus for new investors.
The NZSE is actively working to attract new listings to add to the 66 securities that are already tradeable on the NZSE Debt Market. All issuers of debt securities must comply with certain rules before they can be listed. Points covered by the rules include disclosure standards, fairness and credibility.
Debt securities have been traded in New Zealand for several years, and, recently, there has been a notable increase in the number of issues of tradeable debt securities such as corporate bonds and capital notes.
Background
- Number of Listed Issuers: 19
- Number of Listed Securities: 66
- Number of New Debt Securities Quoted Year to Date: 28
- Average number of trades per day period 1 July to 9 November: 50
- Average turnover of trades per day period 1 July to 9 November: $8.6m
- Total Value of Market (excluding Government Stock): approx $2.7 billion ($2.9 billion after Fonterra listing on 3 December 2001)
- Total Value of Trading in the NZSE Debt Market year to date: $1.3 billion
- Percentage of ASX debt market trading (year to September 2001 FIBV statistics) 122%
- Recent popular issues:
- GPG Finance, $250 million capital notes
- Meridian Centre, $22 million perpetual bonds
- Mission Contact Finance, $250 millon redeemable preference shares
- Up-coming issue: Fonterra Co-operative Group, $200 million capital notes
