加拿大证券交易所 2021 年年底对理查德·卡尔顿的采访

编 | 文 | Ian
阅读
| 6分钟
图 | 依版权出处

正文

任何关注CSE过去几年发展的人都看到交易所不断壮大，上市证券数量，CSE上市发行人筹集的资金，交易量和其他业绩指标连续上升，没有中断.

迄今为止，CSE 业绩和服务的增长令人兴奋，但交易所正准备在 2022 年将事情提升到一个全新的水平。其中的关键是对满足特定标准的大型发行人的高级任命。新名称以及随之而来的监管框架也意味着 ETF、SPAC 和结构性产品将能够首次在 CSE 上市。

在 12 月中旬进行的一次采访中，CSE 首席执行官 Richard Carleton 讨论了这些话题以及更多话题，让发行人和投资者预览了 CSE 有史以来规模最大的一年。

在 CSE 上市的公司在 2021 年的融资努力中获得了很好的反响，截至 11 月底的 12 个月内共完成了 77.4 亿美元的融资。我们已经看到各种规模的股权融资，债务也变得越来越突出；10 月，Trulieve Cannabis 成功发行了 3.5 亿美元的优先票据。CSE 的上市环境旨在为交易所的发行人降低资本成本。随着更大的筹款活动的发生，这种优势是否得以保持？

那里有很多基础，但我首先要说的是，交易所的存在是为了尽可能消除资本形成过程中的监管摩擦，因此 CSE 上市发行人在筹集资金时通常具有优势. 例如，我们不会向发行人收取每次进行二次发行时所筹集金额的百分比费用。

在很大程度上，我们所看到的资本成本的下降也是动态变化的一个函数，因为资本被提供给大型和成功的公司，特别是在美国大麻领域。例如，其中一些公司之所以能够发行债券，是因为它们现在拥有可观的收入来担保债务。结果，他们看到从债务角度来看的资本成本下降到开始反映消费品行业具有类似规模和增长轨迹的公司的水平。

因此，它取决于我们作为交易所的运作方式，但也表明资本提供者如何看待在 CSE 上市的许多公司。

11月末，中证所挂牌证券736只，同比增长17%。与我们谈谈您在 2021 年上市公司中观察到的一些趋势。

第一件事是，我们可能会在今年加入交易所的新公司数量方面创下纪录。就在那里，这告诉您，对于希望筹集资金上市的公司来说，市场非常强劲。有趣的事情之一是它的基础非常广泛。我们有许多人们感兴趣的新主题。

可持续食品运动是一个很好的例子，说明今年许多公司已经进入公开市场。显然，迷幻药行业也吸引了大量投资者的关注。然后是一些长期存在的行业，例如采矿业，它大幅回归，不仅是因为贵金属价格强劲，还因为各个行业都在进行投资以推动经济的电气化，或脱碳，如果你想称之为。这对采矿空间产生了重大影响，因为对用于生产电池的矿物的需求非常广泛。而且，当然，公司也在寻求缩短供应链，例如，对位于北美的项目的投资已经加速。

我们在大麻领域也有一个持续强劲的市场。今年我们看到该领域的一些新发行人加入了交易所，并筹集了大量资金。

此外，还有大量的技术投资，为我们提供了与区块链相关的电子竞技、游戏和去中心化金融公司。从我在资本市场 30 多年的经验来看，这确实是我能记得的少数几次几乎每个行业都在全力以赴的情况之一。

有可能在 2022 年挑战另一项上市记录并超过今年的总数。这对我来说是一个非常令人兴奋的前景，因为它表明对我们的服务有很高的需求。

解释2021年散户投资者在市场中的作用。他们对交易和流动性有什么影响？

一句话，巨大。加拿大的初级资本市场传统上由散户投资者主导。零售参与者一直是支持加拿大证券交易所工作的投资和交易社区的极其重要的组成部分。

零售交易活动的绝对爆炸式增长已不是什么秘密，尤其是在 2021 年第一季度。我们在每日交易的股票数量、交易量和交易额方面都创下了记录。无论以何种标准衡量，我们的活动水平都明显高于之前看到的任何类型的活动水平。而这种增长主要是由零售空间活动的扩张推动的。

当我们与我们的同事，尤其是折扣经纪行业的同事交谈时，我们听说全新一代投资者已经加入了市场，而且实际上是在大流行开始之后。与过去 55 岁及以上类别的传统散户投资者相比，这些新来者明显更年轻。我们已经看到许多 20 多岁和 30 多岁的人大量参与开设了许多新账户。这些是第一次投资市场的人，他们带来了不同的观点。它们在为大麻产业提供资金方面非常重要。他们非常关注围绕可持续性和环境影响、多样性以及帮助创造更美好世界的问题。

因此，我们将看到许多长期结果。诸如来自公司的 ESG（环境、社会和治理）报告之类的事情，以及公司在向其在影响力投资世界中所处的位置展示他们的故事时必须给予大量关注。我认为这是健康的，是积极的，它将为公司筹集资金和与股东沟通的方式带来一些重要的变化。

公平地说，CSE 正在全球交易所生态系统中迈向一个新的水平——就像下一代的 CSE。高级发行人的指定是这一演变的一部分。您能否向我们介绍其地位以及新指定对 CSE 发行人和交易所本身的重要性？

我想我应该首先解释一下，没有高级或初级的交换指定。加拿大证券监管的运作方式是将公司定性为高级发行人或风险发行人。

12 月 9 日，我们以不列颠哥伦比亚省和安大略省证券委员会发布的评论请求的形式正式宣布了一个项目。这意味着对加拿大证券交易所的上市规则进行重大改写。

该项目有两个主要方面。第一个是我们正在更新对初级公司的要求，无论是在入门级还是继续在交易所上市。在过去几年中，我们一直与监管机构合作修订这些规则。

占据所有头条新闻的第二部分是我们正在创建一个高级交易所。这不是一个新的交易所或单独的交易设施，而是对我们在业务发展方面达到一定规模和成熟度的一定数量的发行人的指定。他们有收入吗？他们有重要资产吗？他们的销售轨迹是否在上升？他们有很大的市值吗？

我们已经确定了大约 60 到 80 家有资格在加拿大类似交易所上市的公司，我们还看到一些公司今年开始与纳斯达克双重上市。因此，我们正在创建一个规则框架来规范这些公司，实际上是作为高级发行人。

新框架将要求这些公司拥有更大的董事会，为公司治理程序带来更多规定，并设定更短的时间框架来完成季度和经审计的年度财务报告。公司还必须遵守其他一些措施，包括对其持续向市场披露的更多监督。

作为回报，我们认为被指定为高级成员的发行人有多种好处。首先是我们一直在与 IIROC 合作，以确保这些公司将被列入 IIROC 的证券清单，这些公司在经销商库存中有资格降低保证金。目前，当交易商持有 CSE 发行人的库存时，他们必须对 100 美分的监管资本收取费用。每股交易价格超过 5.00 美元的公司只需向监管资本收取 20 美分的费用，这相当于加拿大其他作为高级公司市场的交易所的费用。这听起来是技术性的，但它会对降低这些公司筹集资金时的资金成本产生实际影响。

我们还与国际指数提供商合作，以确保这些公司有资格被纳入不同的指数。例如，在许多情况下市值达数十亿美元的美国多国运营商可能有资格被纳入 MSCI 或富时美国指数之一。我们有在以色列经营的公司有资格被纳入以色列指数。我们一直在与指数公司合作以提供这种能力。

作为高级职位的一部分，我们还将能够列出 SPAC（特殊目的收购公司）、交易所交易基金和结构性产品。这很重要，因为我们知道有许多 ETF 制造商希望推出面向美国大麻的产品，他们可以在 CSE 上推出这些产品。在 SPAC 领域可能没有太多空间可以运行，但我们也知道正在开发一些有趣的结构化产品，我们认为我们是这些工具的合乎逻辑的家。

这就是即将到来的 Exchange 竞赛的一部分，我们将与这些产品的创建者合作，为他们的新产品提供一个合适的家。

在此处阅读 Richard 的最新博文https://blog.thecse.com/，以了解有关发行人名称的更多信息以及对 CSE 修改其上市政策的提案的评论请求。

高级任命显然将是一个非常重要的发展。考虑到这一点，令人印象深刻的融资活动、机构和散户投资者参与的持续增长以及我们讨论的其他因素，您能否就 CSE 在更广泛的全球金融市场中不断发展的地位与我们谈谈您的看法。

这在很大程度上是一种进化。我们已经在这方面工作了 20 年，并且拥有一支非常有经验的团队，无论是在交易、市场信息还是上市监管方面，他们都非常深入地了解为发行人提供成功的交易所服务需要什么、投资者和交易社区。

我们所做的一系列努力是为了消除发行人在提供这些服务时遇到的所有障碍和摩擦点。如果我回想几年前，加拿大的在线折扣经纪人无法访问我们。这是一个巨大的问题，我们投入了大量的时间和精力，然后在五六年前，我们设法克服了这个障碍。当然，这对在加拿大证券交易所上市的营业额、可访问性和吸引力产生了重大影响。

现在，我们拥有一批规模更大、非常成功的公司，这些公司在其生命周期中取得了显着的发展水平，我们正在研究那里的摩擦点。我谈到了国际指数的成员资格。我们还需要改善国际投资者的准入，例如为欧洲、亚洲、中东和其他地区的账户提供加拿大准入的经纪商。我们必须确保他们可以访问这些名称。

有些机构投资者声称他们不会投资小盘股，并得出结论认为在 CSE 上市的任何东西本质上都是小盘股。我们必须与这些机构投资者合作，让他们了解我们的许多发行人已经取得的成功，以及他们在许多情况下市值超过 10 亿美元的事实。

归根结底，这是一个坚持不懈的案例。它正在做艰苦的工作，出差，代表发行人，确定障碍，并制定计划来克服这些挑战。

听起来 2022 年将是 CSE 历史上最重要的年份之一。让我们总结一下您对 CSE 上市公司在新的一年中可以预期的服务改进的看法。

今年上半年，我们将与行业合作，完成新上市手册项目的评论期。与此同时，我们将通过各种渠道大声疾呼，向人们解释我们已经成功与许多非常大的公司合作，因此市场可以期待一些与此相关的促销和信息。

随着我们客户群的增长以及我们的监管义务以及与高级发行人框架的联系的增长，我们将加强与我们的发行人及其顾问合作的团队，特别是在我们的多伦多和温哥华办事处。我们继续保持我们的服务水平非常重要，这是我们所做工作的一个非常重要的部分。多年来，关于人们在加拿大证券交易所获得的个人服务水平以及我们团队内非常积极的解决问题的文化，我都收到了大量反馈。我们当然希望保持这一点，因为我们将继续组建团队以提供高水平的服务。

我知道我们已经讨论了很多年了，但我们将在 2022 年看到加拿大证券交易所的结算和清算服务。 事实上，我刚刚演示了一个真实的、实时的系统，该系统已经启动并运行在我们的测试环境中。因此，我认为这会给我们带来显着优势，特别是当我们与行业合作上市结构性产品并利用其证券代币化的好处时。

显然，有很多事情正在发生。众所周知，全球证券界也有动静。我们有 Cboe Global Markets，它在本地收购了 NEO 交易所，他们将在明年某个时候完成该交易。所以这真的让我们成为加拿大唯一的上市地点，与 TMX 集团一起，由本地拥有和运营。这是我们将在 2022 年继续向行业展示的优势。

英文：

Year-End 2021 Interview with Richard Carleton

Anyone keeping an eye on developments at the CSE over the past several years has watched the Exchange go from strength to strength, with the number of listed securities, capital raised by CSE-listed issuers, trading volume, and other performance measures climbing sequentially without interruption.

As exciting as the growth in CSE performance and services has been to date, the Exchange is preparing to take things to an entirely new level in 2022. Key to this is a senior designation for larger issuers who meet certain criteria. The new designation, and the regulatory framework that comes with it, also means that ETFs, SPACs, and structured products will be able to list on the CSE for the first time.

In an interview conducted in mid-December, CSE Chief Executive Officer Richard Carleton discussed these topics and more, giving issuers and investors a preview of what is shaping up to be the CSE’s biggest year ever.

Companies listed on the CSE have enjoyed an excellent response to their capital raising efforts in 2021, with a total of $7.74 billion in financings completed in the 12 months to the end of November. We have seen equity raises of all sizes, and debt is becoming more prominent as well; in October, Trulieve Cannabis successfully marketed US$350 million in senior notes. The listing environment at the CSE is designed to facilitate a low cost of capital for the Exchange’s issuers. As larger fundraisings take place, is that advantage being maintained?

There is a lot of ground to cover there, but I’d begin by saying that the Exchange exists to remove as much regulatory friction from the capital formation process as possible, so there are advantages for CSE-listed issuers generally when they are raising capital. As an example, we don’t charge issuers a percentage fee of the amount raised each and every time they do a secondary offering.

In large measure, the decrease in capital costs we’ve seen is also a function of changing dynamics, in that capital is being provided to large and successful companies, particularly in the US cannabis space. For instance, some of these companies were able to launch debt offerings because they now have substantial revenues to secure the debt against. As a result, they have seen the cost of capital from a debt perspective drop to levels which begin to reflect companies of similar size and growth trajectory in the consumer-packaged goods sector.

It’s thus a function of how we operate as an exchange, but also an indication of how capital providers view many of the companies listed on the CSE.

At the end of November, there were 736 listed securities on the CSE, which is 17% higher than at the same time last year. Talk to us about some of the trends you have observed in companies coming to market in 2021.

The first thing is that we are likely to achieve a record in terms of the number of new companies that join the Exchange this year. Right there, that tells you that the market is very robust for companies looking to raise capital to go public. One of the interesting things is that it has been very broadly based. We have many new themes that people have been interested in.

The sustainable food movement is a good example of a sector where a number of companies have tapped the public markets this year. Obviously, the psychedelics industry has also captured a good deal of investor attention. And then there are long-standing industries, such as mining, which is back in a big way, not only because of the robust nature of precious metals prices but also because investments are being made in various industries to advance the electrification of the economy, or decarbonization if you want to call it that. This has a significant impact on the mining space because the demand for the minerals used to produce batteries is extensive. And, of course, companies are also looking to shorten their supply chains, so investments in projects located within North America, for example, have been accelerated.

We have also had a continuing robust marketplace in the cannabis space. We have seen some new issuers in this sector join the Exchange this year and significant amounts of capital have been raised.

In addition, there has been tremendous investment in technology, which provides us with esports, gaming, and the decentralized finance companies related to blockchain. From my 30 odd years of experience in the capital markets, this is really one of the few times I can recall when virtually every industry sector is firing on all cylinders.

There is potential to challenge another listings record in 2022 and surpass this year's total. This is a very exciting prospect for me, as it shows there is a high demand for our services.

Explain the role of retail investors in the market in 2021. What impact did they have on trading and liquidity?

In a word, huge. The junior capital markets in Canada are traditionally dominated by retail investors. Retail participants have always constituted an extremely important part of the investing and trading community that supports the work of the Canadian Securities Exchange.

It’s no secret that there was an absolute explosion of retail trading activity, particularly in the first quarter of 2021. We’ve set records in terms of daily number of shares traded, transactions, and value traded. By any measure, we are significantly above any kind of activity levels seen previously. And that growth has been principally driven by the expansion of activity from the retail space.

When we talk to our colleagues, and particularly those in the discount brokerage sector, we’re hearing that a whole new generation of investors has joined the marketplace, and really just since the beginning of the pandemic. These newcomers skew significantly younger than the traditional retail investor population who were in the 55 and up category in the past. We have seen lots of new accounts opened with significant participation from people in their 20s and 30s. These are people who are investing in the markets for the first time, and they bring a different viewpoint. They were enormously important in providing capital to the cannabis industry. They are very focused on issues around sustainability and environmental impact, diversity, and helping create a better world. They want to invest in company stories they believe in and that are helping to shape that better world.

There are a number of longer-term outcomes we will see because of this. Things such as ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) reporting from companies, as well as companies having to pay a significant amount of attention when presenting their stories to where they sit in the world of impact investing. I think it is healthy, it’s positive, and it’s going to introduce some important changes to the way in which companies raise capital and communicate with their shareholders.

It is fair to say that the CSE is moving to a new level in the global exchange ecosystem – it’s like the next generation of the CSE. A senior issuer designation is part of this evolution. Can you update us on its status and the importance of the new designation, both to CSE issuers and the Exchange itself?

I think I should start by explaining that there is no such thing as an exchange designation being senior or junior. The way securities regulation works in Canada is that it is the companies that are characterized as being senior or venture issuers.

On December 9, we formally announced a project in the form of a request for comment published by the BC and Ontario securities commissions. What this entails is a significant rewrite to the listings rules of the Canadian Securities Exchange.

There are two major facets to the project. The first one is that we are updating our requirements for junior companies, both at the entry level and to continue to be listed on the Exchange. We have worked with our regulators over the last couple of years to revise these rules.

The second part, which is grabbing all of the headlines, is that we are creating a senior tier of the exchange. This is not a new exchange or separate trading facility, but a designation for a certain number of our issuers who have achieved a certain size and maturity in terms of the development of their business. Do they have revenue? Do they have significant assets? Is their sales trajectory rising? Do they have a significant market capitalization?

We’ve identified some 60 to 80 companies that would qualify to list on similar exchanges in Canada, and we’ve also seen a move by companies to dually list with Nasdaq this year. So, we are creating a rule framework that will regulate these companies, in effect as senior issuers.

The new framework will require these companies to have larger boards, bring more prescription around corporate governance procedures, plus set shorter timeframes to complete quarterly and audited annual financial reporting. There are also a few other measures that the companies will have to abide by, including more supervision of their continuous disclosure to the market.

In return, we believe there are multiple benefits for issuers designated as members of the senior tier. The first is that we have been working with IIROC to ensure these companies will be included on IIROC’s list of securities that are eligible for reduced margin when in dealer inventory. Right now, when dealers are holding CSE issuers in inventory, they have to take a charge against their regulatory capital of 100 cents on the dollar. Companies trading at more than $5.00 per share will only have to have a charge against regulatory capital of 20 cents, which is equivalent to that on other exchanges in Canada that serve as a senior company marketplace. It sounds technical, but it will have a practical impact on reducing the cost of capital for these companies when they are raising money.

We’re also working with international index providers to ensure that these companies are eligible for inclusion in different indices. For example, the US multi-state operators, which in many cases have market capitalizations in the billions of dollars, could qualify for inclusion in one of the MSCI or FTSE US indices. We have companies operating in Israel that would qualify for inclusion in the Israeli indices. We have been working with the index companies to provide for this capability.

We’ll also have, as part of the senior designation, the ability to list SPACs (Special Purpose Acquisition Companies), exchange traded funds, and structured products. And that’s important because we know that there are a number of ETF manufacturers that would like to launch products that are US cannabis-oriented, and they could launch those products on the CSE. There may not be much room left to run in the SPAC space, but we also know that there are some interesting structured products that are being developed, and we think we are the logical home for those instruments.

That is all part of the Exchange competition to come, where we will be working with the creators of these products to provide an appropriate home for their new listings.

Read Richard’s latest blog post here https://blog.thecse.com/ to learn more about issuer designations and the request for comments on the CSE’s proposal to revise its listing policies.

The senior designation is obviously going to be a very important development. Considering this, the impressive financing activity, the consistent growth in both institutional and retail investor participation, and other factors we have discussed, can you talk to us more about your views on the CSE’s evolving position within the broader global financial marketplace.

It is very much an evolution. We have been at this for 20 years and have the benefit of a very experienced team, whether it’s on the trading, market information, or listings regulation side, who understand at a very deep level what it takes to provide successful exchange services to the issuer, investor, and trading communities.

What it has really been is a series of efforts by us to eliminate all of the barriers and friction points for our issuers in the provision of those services. If I think back some years ago, we weren’t accessible by the online discount brokers in Canada. That was a huge issue that we devoted a great deal of time and energy to, and then five or six years ago, we managed to overcome that hurdle. Of course, that had a big impact on turnover, accessibility, and the appeal of a listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange.

Now that we have a cohort of larger, highly successful companies that have achieved a significant level of development in their lifecycle, we are looking at the friction points there. I talked about membership in international indices. We also need to improve access for international investors, one example being brokers who provide access to Canada for accounts in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and other regions. We have to ensure they have access to these names.

There are institutional investors who claim they won’t invest in the small-cap space and have concluded that anything listed on the CSE is small-cap in nature. We have to work with these institutional investors to educate them about the success that many of our issuers have had, and the fact that they have attained market capitalizations in excess of a billion dollars in a number of cases.

At the end of the day, it’s a case of keeping our nose to the grindstone. It’s doing the hard work, making the trips, representing the issuers, identifying the hurdles, and developing plans to overcome those challenges.

It really sounds like 2022 is going to be one of the most important years in the CSE’s history. Let’s conclude with your thoughts on what companies listed on the CSE can anticipate in terms of service enhancements in the new year.

In the first part of the year, we are going to be working with the industry on completing the comment period for the new listings manual project. And in conjunction with that, we are going to be quite vocal across a variety of channels, explaining to people that we have succeeded with a number of very large companies, so the marketplace can expect some promotion and information related to that.

As our customer base grows and our regulatory obligations and connection with the framework for the senior issuers grows, we will be enhancing the teams who work with our issuers and their advisors, in our Toronto and Vancouver offices in particular. It is incredibly important that we continue to maintain our service levels, which is a really important part of what we do. I have received tremendous feedback over the years regarding both the personal service levels people feel they get at the Canadian Securities Exchange and the very positive problem-solving culture within our group. And we are certainly looking to maintain that as we continue to build out the team in order to provide high levels of service.

And I know we have talked about it for some years now, but we will see settlement and clearing services from the Canadian Securities Exchange in 2022. In fact, I have just come from a demonstration of the real, live system which is up and running in our testing environment. So, that is something I think will give us a significant advantage, in particular when we are working with the industry on listing structured products and taking advantage of the benefits of tokenizing their securities.

Obviously, there is lots going on. As we know, there is also motion in the global securities world. We’ve got Cboe Global Markets, which has acquired the NEO Exchange locally, and they will be closing that transaction at some point next year. And so that really leaves us as the only Canadian listing venue, along with the TMX Group, being locally owned and operated. That is an advantage we will be continuing to present to the industry in 2022.

https://www.thecse.com/en/news/year-end-2021-interview-with-richard-carleton

咨询顾问：Joshua小平

咨询热线：156 1833 0219（微信同号）

Consultant: Joshua小平

Hotline:156 1833 0219（Wechat）