Securities trading - South Africa
Key market-tradable securities
| Denomination currency | Maturity profile | Interest rate | Interest/Dividend payment frequency | Place of settlement | Form |
| Corporate bonds | |||||
| ZAR | Varies | Fixed or floating | Semi-annual mainly | STRATE | Registered, dematerialised or immobilisedb |
| Depository Receipts | |||||
| USD/ZAR | Not applicable | Not applicable | Varies | Listed on NYSE, NASDAQ mainly | Mainly American Depository Receipts (ADRs) |
| Derivatives | |||||
| ZAR | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | STRATE | Dematerialised |
| Government bonds (Gilts) a | |||||
| ZAR | 1 to 25 years | Fixed | Semi-annual mainly; some quarterly | STRATE | Registered, dematerialised or immobilised b |
| Money-market instruments c | |||||
| ZAR | Most up to 12 months; some longer | Discounted to yield mainly | At maturity mainly d | Not official e | Bearer, physical mainly f |
| Ordinary shares | |||||
| ZAR | Not applicable | Not applicable | Usually semi-annual | STRATE | Registered certificate, dematerialised |
| Preference shares | |||||
| ZAR | Not applicable | Not applicable | Usually semi-annual | STRATE | Registered certificate, dematerialised |
| Warrants | |||||
| ZAR | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | STRATE | Dematerialised |
a. The major issuers of bonds are the Republic of South Africa (RSA) and quasi-governmental bodies including Eskom, Development Bank of South Africa, Landbank, Telkom and Transnet.
b. Only a small proportion of government and corporate bonds respectively are held in physical form, although immobilised to allow further, electronic settlement through the STRATE Bond Trading System.
c. Money-market instruments are not listed on the exchange. See also “Money-market instruments” below.
d. The exception is NCDs, with interest paid monthly, quarterly, semi-annually and annually.
e. There is no official money-market place of settlement; related transactions take place between the various financial and commercial institutions.
f. Dematerialisation for money-market instruments was begun in 2004.
Money-market instruments
RSA Treasury Bills: issued by the Republic of South Africa (RSA), these are government certificates of indebtedness issued for a period of three months with a minimum denomination of ZAR 10,000.
Negotiable Certificates of Deposit (NCDs): issued against funds deposited in a commercial, merchant or general bank for a wide range of maturities from three months to five years with a specified return rate. The standard denomination is ZAR 1,000,000.
Commercial Papers (CPs): written acknowledgements of debt but excluding Bankers’ Acceptances. They are issued either by companies listed on the JSE or by non-listed companies normally through the banks who endorse the paper. The standard dealing denomination is ZAR 1,000,000.
Bills of Exchange: can be passed from one holder to the another by endorsement. They are issued with a very short maturity (up to 4 months maximum) in the form of Bankers’ Acceptances (B/A), Trade Bills or Promissory Notes.
Trading platforms
- Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE);
- The Bond Exchange of South Africa (BESA).