ETFs - requirements and listing process
Article 2.2.35 of the Rules of the markets organised and managed by Borsa Italiana S.p.A. (following the “Rules”) defines the requirements for the admission to listing for Exchange Traded Funds, while table 7 of the Instructions accompanying the Rules shows the documents that must be attached to the listing application.
ETFs Requirements
- In the ETFplus market it is possible to list harmonized CIUs that are compliant with the European directive UCITS IV, and have received Consob and Bank of Italy authorization or, in the case of foreign CIUs within the European Union, an equivalent authorization from the home authority and have completed the procedure for marketing in Italy as referred to in Article 42 of the Consolidated Law on Finance (a copy of the documentation demonstrating the above must be attached).
- Units/shares of CIUs for which the admission is requested must be freely negotiable and can be settled by Monte Titoli S.p.A.
- The reference index or basket of securities of an indexed ETF must be calculated in a transparent manner and updated daily. The value of the index must be made available to the public at least once a day. For structured ETFs it is otherwise requested that the index to which the performance of the fund is linked and the formula linking the performance of the index and the fund are marked by transparent methods of calculation. The fund’s reference index must be made available to the public at least daily once a day.
- For ETFs, it is also required that the relevant prospectus provides for the listing in a regulated market.
Liquidity support
Specialist
In accordance with article 2.3.17, for the listing of ETFs there must be at least one specialist that undertakes to support the liquidity of the ETFs for which application for listing has been made. In detail, as set out in article 4.5.10, the specialist must display continuous bid and ask prices with a minimum quantity and a maximum spread established by Borsa Italiana in accordance with article IA.8.2.7 paragraph 3 of the Instructions. The specialist is also obliged to restore quotes in the event of a total or partial hit on the book. Borsa Italiana monitors the performance of these obligations on a continuous basis. The specialist function must be performed by an intermediary that is an ETFplus market member able to post an executable quote type of order (simultaneous bid and ask prices). In case the specialist function is covered by an intermediary not yet specialist on the ETFplus market some simple tests must be executed in order to verify this functionality. Specialists will benefit from a total exemption from the trading fee.
Liquidity provider
The liquidity of the ETFs may also be supported by some intermediaries defined as "liquidity providers" that, although not having quotation requirements, display bid and ask prices in order to contribute to the width (also called breadth) and depth of the trading book. Borsa Italiana grants these intermediaries a monthly total/partial discount from the trading fee in the event they reach a minimum market share on the relevant ETF. The presence of liquidity providers is optional and an ETF could be supported by more than one.
Disclosure requirements
- As in provisions of article 2.6.2 paragraph 5 the most important requirement is the publication of the iNAV in EUR (indicative Net Asset Value - the instantaneous value of the ETF) which must be calculated continuously. Borsa Italiana, in fact, asks the issuers to publish this value through traditional infoproviders or through websites.
- In accordance with the article 2.6.2 paragraph 5 of the Rules and with the article IA.2.1.11 of the Instructions, the ETF issuer shall notify to Borsa Italiana by 11.00 on each trading day of:
a) the net asset value (NAV) of the ETF;
b) the number of shares/units outstanding.
In order to send out on daily basis the above mentioned data, issuers shall use a specific file which specifications are detailed in the attached technical guide and must build up the relevant informatics infrastructure in order to be able to send the files to Borsa Italiana.
The issuers will upload the files on a Borsa Italiana’s FTP server. During the listing process a username and password will be provided to the issuer, together with the enabled IP address.
For all the other disclosure requirements visit the dedicated section on our website.
Listing ancillary activities
Together with the above file, issuers must provide Borsa Italiana with the historical prices of the ETFs benchmark indices - both in Euro and in the currency denomination – dating back for at least 8 years (a shorter period is allowed for recently constituted indices).
Contacts
ETFs Listing Italy
Silvia Bosoni - silvia.bosoni@borsaitaliana.it
Demis Todeschini - demis.todeschini@borsaitaliana.it