Brazil’s CVM securities commission has eased listing regulations to encourage local and foreign companies Internet companies to list on the São Paulo stock market and stanch the loss of trading volumes to US exchanges. The new rules are intended to make it easier for Brazilian Internet start-ups to list both in Brazil and in the US. No major Latin Internet company that has listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market has chosen to seek a local listing as well.
|
|
| |||||
LatinFinance said in February (Financing Latin America’s Internet Revolution) that start-ups in Mexico and Brazil were considering such a dual listing. The CVM also wants to attract more foreign companies to list their shares in Brazil, by relaxing controls on the issuing of Brazilian Depositary Receipts, the local equivalent of ADRs. So far, only two companies have issued BDRs since their creation in 1996. They are Bob’s, a fast-food chain, and Aventis, the French chemical group. Telefonica, which is buying out some of its Brazilian subsidiaries, may also list its shares in Brazil as BDRs.
Meanwhile, the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange has said it is considering the creation of a Nasdaquito, or local imitation of the US electronic market that is the platform of choice for American and international high-technology companies. The Nasdaquito would have less stringent listing requirements than the main stock market. The Buenos Aires market has suffered a severe decline in trading volumes in recent years and is riven by internal disagreements.