AIX has approved the rules for Direct Listing

Astana International Exchange Posted

Astana International Exchange (“AIX”, “Exchange”) is pleased to introduce a new service – Direct Listing of shares. The relevant amendments in the AIX Business Rules have been approved by the Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) with a commencement date of 20 December 2021.

A Direct Listing is a process for a company to become public without raising capital through the conventional initial public offering process (IPO). Unlike an IPO in which the shares would typically be sold to prospective investors at discount via bookbulding process, in the direct listing the initial sales are conducted by the selling shareholders through the Exchange, with the prices determined based on matching buy and sell orders in accordance with the AIX Trading Rules. For the purpose of the direct listing, AIX allows issuers to have zero free float on the Admission Date and to meet these requirements over a 1-year period.

Evgenia Bogdanova, Head of Regulation & Compliance of AIX said:

“Direct listing provides companies more options for becoming publicly traded. By going public the company allows existing shareholders to freely sell their shares in the public market. Besides, in the direct listing there is no need for traditional underwriter involvement and bookbuilding which decreases the time and cost of the listing. We believe that allowing for multiple pathways for private companies to achieve exchange listing would encourage more companies to participate in public equity markets and provide investors with a broader array of attractive investment opportunities.”

The Rules are accessible via the following link.