A2X welcomes Competition Commission’s move to sanction JSE for anti-competitive conduct

Stephen Grootes speaks to Kevin Brady, A2X CEO, about the Competition Commission’s call for the JSE to be fined 10% of its turnover over alleged “exclusionary conduct.”

Listen to the full interview in the audio player below.

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) is facing a R10bn fine threat as the Competition Commission pursues an antitrust case next year over allegations that it abused its market dominance to stifle competition from smaller rival A2X.

The commission has referred the matter to the Competition Tribunal after a three-year investigation into complaints lodged by A2X in 2022, accusing the JSE of exclusionary conduct designed to block the growth of the secondary trading platform.

The allegations are that the JSE restricted cross-platform trading by enforcing the use of its broker dealer accounting (BDA) system, limiting its interoperability with A2X systems.

A2X which was founded in 2017 by Kevin Brady, now lists 175 instruments with a combined market capitalisation of about R10 trillion, roughly half that of the JSE.

Major companies including AngloGold Ashanti, Sanlam, Discovery, Standard Bank, Prosus and Naspers are dual-listed on A2X.

Speaking to Stephen Grootes on The Money Show, Kevin Brady, A2X CEO says some of the JSE's practices can be deemed as anti-competitive.

"The JSE mandates its post trade system, called BDA, Broker dealing accounting system. And they've used this mandated status to actually make it very difficult for brokers to achieve execution and trade across the market. And that is really the core of our complaint. That obstruction, deliberate obstruction is really holding back the South African market as a whole," says Brady.

"At the end of the day, we're just looking for a level playing field. We want to fight on price, on services, on innovation...all those good things. And we feel that unlocking this hurdle in the way, will create a much better, more dynamic, more progressive market and I think it will be good for all," added Brady.

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