Botswana Stock Exchange To Replace LSEG's Settlement System with CMA

The Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) is in the process of replacing its current settlement system. While the exchange operator has used LSEG Technology’s MillenniumIT platform since 2008, Thapelo Tsheole, CEO of the BSE, tells WatersTechnology that it is switching over to a platform by CMA Small Systems as it looks to add more features to its trading environment while cutting costs.

Tsheole points to three particular pieces of functionality for choosing CMA. First, he says that it has a robust module for securities borrowing and lending (SBL), and it will align the module to its central securities depository (CSD) system. The new platform will also allow investors to trade online accounts. Additionally, it has a module for annual general meetings.

Cost is a big concern to many African markets, especially given the small size of the African market; technology is very expensive.

Thapelo Tsheole, BSE

The Stockholm-based vendor, which also has an office in Russia, is focused on emerging- and frontier-market exchanges and banks. The St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange, Micex Trading Systems, The Budapest Stock Exchange and the Vietnam Stock Exchange, among others, are also clients.

The BSE does not have an exact date for going live on the new platform, but Maxim Neshcheret, regional director for APAC at CMA, says that these types of switches usually take about 12-18 months to complete. “I am pretty sure for them [the Botswana Stock Exchange] it will be a big-bang approach,” he says. “So we designed the system, we will test with them, then we will immigrate all the data, then we move to new platform.” 

Tsheole says that cost was a major factor for making the switch. “Cost is a big concern to many African markets, especially given the small size of the African market; technology is very expensive,” Tsheole says. “While we expect there will be advancement in technology, things could be cheaper. It is actually becoming relatively expensive.”

Neighboring Namibian Stock Exchange has an agreement with the much larger Johannesburg Stock Exchange to use its trading technology. Tsheole says that while such partnerships can help, sometimes it can be difficult due to issues around internet bandwidth. “For you to use this technology, you need to have a strong and working internet,” he says. Another challenge, he notes, is working around different time zones, currencies and connectivity between countries. 

BSE is also looking to introduce a new mobile application that will cover daily price movements, information about the exchange and how to list.