ASX exec warns 'a lot of things can be the death of the ASX’
Compliance executive Daniel Moran has said excessive regulation and the rise of private markets could both pose existential risks for the national stock exchange.
The ASX's compliance boss Daniel Moran has told an audience of retail shareholders that overly burdensome regulation of listed companies and the rise of private capital could spell the death of the local bourse.
Speaking at the Australian Shareholders' Association Investor Conference Moran referred to James Hardie’s acquisition of US-based AZEK, which sparked a huge market backlash as shareholders had no say on the deal. He said the ASX needed to balance concerns investors could flee the ASX if they didn’t change the rules to prevent this, with the risk that companies could delist or not list in the first place if they changed them too far.
“From the issuer’s side they might say ‘if you over regulate listed companies and if you make it too hard for us to execute transactions that’ll mean that listed companies [could] flee the public markets,” Moran said.
“And this will be the death of the ASX as well. So, a lot of things can be the death of the ASX.”
