Wealth & Finance International - Fintech Awards 2017

2017 Fintech Awards 13 “Today, a quarter of all UK REITs are listed on TISE. We not only fulfil the requirement of being listed on an HMRC ‘recognised stock exchange’ but we have a cost-effective and pragmatic admissions process. It includes a specific exemption for REITs from the free-float rule requiring 25% of the issued share capital to be held in public hands, which is particularly attractive for REITs with a smaller number of institutional investors. “Additionally, we also believe that, at a time when Brexit is creating so much uncertainty in the UK, the certainty which the Crown Dependencies can offer means that TISE provides an alternative venue for UK Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) to raise finance. SMEs are already facing squeezed bank lending, alternative financing such as peer-to-peer lending or crowdfunding remains limited in scale, owners are often worried about the loss of control afforded by private equity and a listing on a major stock exchange is often prohibitively expensive and/or bureaucratic. “Overall, we believe that TISE provides a complementary offering to those which already exist by offering a capital markets option which is better suited, for example in terms of costs, to SMEs, including those in the fast developing Fintech sector.” Looking to the future, Fiona believes that driving investment in Fintech will allow TISE to grow even further and build upon its current success. “With regards to the future, TISE is making significant investment into our systems to ensure that we harness technology in order for the on boarding and ongoing administration of listings to be automated as much as possible, while at the same time we look for the most effective upgrade to our trading platform. “This is to ensure we create the right environment for new business, whether debt issuances, investment vehicles or trading companies, including those which touch upon the Fintech sector.” Most Innovative Capital Markets Listing