CNMV is studying changes to make it easier for companies to list in the US after the Ferrovial case

Discomfort in the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) for railway case. The Spanish markets watchdog does not enter into the assessment of the company’s decision to move its headquarters to the Netherlands. However, he wants to make it clear that one of the main arguments the company used to defend his movement is not, in his opinion, justified.

The president of the organization, Rodrigo Buenaventura, fully entered the controversy this Wednesday by assuring that the “requirements” for citation are identical throughout Europe. In other words, Ferrovial should not go public in the Netherlands to make the jump to Wall Street, which is its ultimate goal. The idea was shared by the American ambassador to Spain, Julissa Reynos, recalling that “there are already many Spanish companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange that did not have to move to do so. One thing has nothing to do with the other.”

“There are already many Spanish companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange that did not have to relocate to do so”

Despite everything, this case forced the CNMV to take action. And, for the first time, Buenaventura was open to the changes needed to improve the connection between both markets and, in this way, facilitate the jump of Spanish listed companies to the other side of the Atlantic “if the issue is relevant for more broadcasters”. financial forum, Buenaventura admitted that such a step cannot be taken from day to day. “The real request must be analyzed, with the necessary legal rigor, in dialogue with American counterparts. It is not a matter that is set or resolved in a few days,” he explained is.

In particular, the CNMV’s idea would be to improve the formula a list, for which very few European companies have already listed in the US (and are also doing so in their home markets). The supervisor admits that this mechanism – which requires a connection between the securities registers of both countries – involves different costs and obligations, with a more sophisticated connection to the registers, that currently the most used tool for listed companies to cross the bar is called ADR (American Depositary Receipt).

A total of 19 national companies, among them large values ​​such as Inditex, BBVA or Telefónica, are listed on Wall Street under this modality, which are actually certificates issued by American banks, not shares as such, so they do not have access to large indexes such as which is the Dow Jones. Buenaventura recognizes that correcting limitations a list it might require certain “not necessarily legislative” adjustments. But it seems clear that the changes, which will be implemented together with Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME), will go in that direction.

No communication

From the words of the president of the CNMV, a certain doubt appeared in relation to the criticism that The Ferovian case reactivated due to the obvious weakness – in terms of interconnectedness – of the Spanish stock market compared to other European markets. «Our stock market has not stopped developing and adapting its regulations to become more agile, always within the European regulatory framework, which represents the vast majority of regulations that market participants in Spain must comply with. We are fully comparable to any other major European market,” he said.

At this point, Buenaventura criticized that “to date” the CNMV has not received any expression of interest or consultation on the possibility a list companies in the USA. In other words, Ferrovial never conveyed to the supervisor – or to the market manager – its concerns about the alleged restrictions on the implementation of its plans from Spain. In particular, its aim is its presence on three stock exchanges (Spain, the Netherlands and the USA) to help obtain more liquidity for expansion in the American territory.

Buenaventura used his speech to convey another message to the company led by Rafael del Pino, reminding that the recent amendment to the Law on the Securities Market is in public consultation and processing from May 2021. «It would be a perfect opportunity for analysis to calm this issue, discuss and, where it is necessary, to predict”, the president of the supervisor pointed out.