• Sustainability Section on Website

• Requires (on an apply and explain basis) that listed companies annually report the extent to which they comply with the King Code. King IV includes sustainability reporting as well as integrated reporting. (Source).
• JSE also has mandatory governance disclosure requirements beyond the principles of King.

• JSE Sustainability Disclosure Guidance – This paper is issued as a guidance tool that may be used by issuers on a voluntary basis to: – Assist local companies to navigate the global sustainability and ESG landscape – Provide for South Africa’s specific sustainability challenges – Improve the quality of sustainability and ESG information available to enable more informed investment decisions – Drive improved sustainability performance, accountability, and business leadership.
• The JSE Sustainability Disclosure Guidance – Narrative Disclosures and Metrics is aligned with, and draws on, the most influential global initiatives on sustainability and climate change disclosure – including the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards, the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations, and the IIRC’s International (IR) Framework – as well as an extensive range of other frameworks and standards (Annex 1), and the Sustainability/ESG guidance of various peer exchanges. This Disclosure Guidance is not intended to replace any of these global initiatives but rather seeks to help companies navigate the landscape of reporting standards, and to provide explicitly for the South African context.
• The JSE has collaborated with the Institute of Directors in Southern Africa (IoDSA) assisting the King Committee on Corporate Governance Guidance to issue guidance notes on reporting against the King Code – see here.
• The JSE is a member of the standing King Committee. King III and King IV are available online.
• The JSE is also a founding member (and board member) of the Integrated Reporting Committee (IRC) of SA. Significant contributor to the development of guidance on integrated reporting as issued by the Integrated Reporting Committee of South Africa. It is a member of the working group which aims to put out relevant research and guidance in relation to integrated reporting. Please refer to here for further details and access to the reports produced by the IRC.
• From an investment tool perspective, the FTSE/JSE Responsible Investment (RI) index series was introduced in October 2015 and replaced the SRI Index that had been running since 2004. The methodology measures eligible companies ESG strategies and performance, thus also influencing the way companies should operate and provides a model for the kinds of ESG data companies should be disclosing. (Source).

• Mandatory directors training is offered for smaller companies intending to list on the alternative board Alt-X, in collaboration with the Institute of Directors. See here.
• While specialised ESG training is still nascent, the JSE continues to explore training needs of companies. Our standard course on the listings requirements covers the King Code and its reporting elements. During 2016, the JSE launched a programme on corporate ethics. See here.
• As of 2018, the JSE offers training for listed companies on their performance in the FTSE/JSE Responsible Investment Index which covers an analysis of the company’s performance and where the areas of strengths and weakness are.
• Training on how to begin adopting sustainability into an exchange context is being offered to African exchanges from 2018.
• An annual Responsible Investment / ESG Investor Briefing is run to enable investor engagement on ESG issues.
• In 2021, JSE provided training on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD recommendations) in collaboration with the SSE, CDP and IFC. (source)

• The JSE has adopted the FTSE ESG Ratings process to create the FTSE/JSE Responsible Investment Index Series, launched on 12 October 2015. This replaced the SRI Index that had been running from 2004. The RI Index Series currently comprises two indices:
  • i. The FTSE/JSE Responsible Investment Index, a market-cap weighted index calculated on an end of day basis, comprising all eligible companies who achieve a FTSE ESG rating of 2.0 or above.
  • ii. The FTSE/JSE Responsible Investment Top 30 Index, an equally weighted tradable index calculated on a real time basis, comprising the Top 30 companies ranked by FTSE ESG Rating.
• See more here.

• The Green Bond Segment was expanded to a fully-fledged Sustainability Segment
  • Now it includes Green bonds (including energy, water and waste); Social bonds (including UN SDGs, housing, schooling and health); and Sustainability bonds (a combination of green and social bonds).
• See here for the announcement of first green bond listing.

The JSE will introduce two new segments to accommodate debt securities:

• Sustainability Segment comprising Sustainability Use of Proceeds Debt Securities and Sustainability-Linked Debt Securities; and Transition Segment comprising Transition Debt Securities.

The JSE intends to amend the Debt Listings Requirements (the “Debt Requirements”) to expand the current Sustainability Segment and introduce the Transition Segment. In order to accommodate the new debt securities, the current debt instruments under the Sustainability Segment will be renamed to Sustainability Use of Proceeds Debt Securities to align with its sustainability use of proceeds objectives.

• AltX (JSE), since 2003.

• Supplementary online reports:
  • JSE Climate Disclosure Guidance 2021
  • Resilience and sustainability: how we look at our business (extract from 2015 IAR).
  • King III narrative.
  • Environmental report 2015.
  • Stakeholder report 2015.
  • Social & Ethics report 2015.
  • Remuneration report 2015.
  • Transformation at the JSE.

• Listed company for profit; demutualized in 2005 and listed in 2006.

• Registrar of Securities Services, Financial Services Board.

Strong Exchange Self-Regulatory Organisation (SRO) Model

• Because of the level of authority possessed by the exchange.
• The JSE is the frontline regulator for the exchange, setting and enforcing listing and membership requirements and trading rules. The Financial Services Board (FSB) supervises the JSE in the performance of its regulatory duties.
• The regulatory landscape is set to change significantly in the future, as South Africa looks to implement a twin peaks model of oversight. Under the new system, prudential supervision will be transferred to the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and market conduct regulation will be led by a bolstered FSB.

Location: Johannesburg, South Africa

• The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (“JSE”) offers secure, efficient primary and secondary capital markets across a diverse range of securities, supported by our post-trade and regulatory services. We are the market of choice for local and international investors looking to gain exposure to the leading capital markets in South Africa and the broader African continent. The JSE is currently ranked the 17th largest stock exchange in the world by market capitalisation and the largest exchange in the African continent. The JSE was formed in 1887 during the first South African gold rush. Following the first legislation covering financial markets in 1947, the JSE joined the World Federation of Exchanges in 1963 and upgraded to an electronic trading system in the early 1990s. The bourse demutualised in 2005 and listed on its own exchange in 2006. In 2003, we launched an alternative exchange, AltX, for small and mid-sized listings, followed by the Yield X for interest rate and currency instruments. The JSE acquired the South African Futures Exchange (SAFEX) in 2001 and the Bond Exchange of South Africa (BESA) in 2009. Today we offer five financial markets namely Equities and Bonds as well as Financial, Commodity and Interest Rate Derivatives. (Source).