An important aspect on the provision of corporate finance services that Papantoniou & Papantoniou LLC offers is to act as legal advisors to companies that wish to be listed in the Emerging Companies Market (E.C.M). The E.C.M. is considered as a Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) according to the provision of Investment Services, the exercise of investment activities, the operation of regulated markets and other related matters. Law 144(I)/ 2007. The E.C.M. operates according to the Regulative Decisions adopted by the Cyprus Stock Exchange.
The market is characterised as unregulated and therefore it does not come under the mandatory provisions for regulated markets which impose strict listing requirements and continuous obligations.
Shares, corporate bonds and the derivatives of these titles such as Warrants, Rights, and Convertible Bonds are traded in the Emerging Companies Market. Corporate Bonds are traded in their own market which is called Emerging Companies Bond Market.
As a non-regulated market, E.C.M. constitutes a remarkable option for companies which wish to be listed in a stock market, in order to raise capital and gain access to secondary market. In this market a significant amount of Companies has been listed from the day of its creation.
The advantages that a Public Company enjoys when listed in the E.C.M. are the following:
- Simplified criteria for listing
- Fast and flexible procedures of listing
- Low cost of listing
- New investment opportunities to investors
- Tax advantages from the favourable Tax Regime of Cyprus
- Ability of subscribing (under certain criteria) newly formed Issuers
- Ability of the Company to be listed on a later stage at the Cyprus Stock Exchange Market
Papantoniou & Papantoniou LLC is a qualified Nominated Advisor (NOMAD) approved by the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Exchange Stock. The role of the NOMADS is to advice the issuer in respect of its compliance with the rules and regulations of the E.C.M.
The NOMAD role includes the following:
- Evaluates and presents the issuer to the Cyprus Stock Exchange ensuring that the listing requirements are fulfilled.
- Represents the issuer through the listing procedure.
- Advice the issuer in respect of the compliance of the continuous obligations.
- Monitors and assists the issuer according to the rules and regulations of the E.C.M in fulfilling their obligations.
- Advice the issuer in respect of its obligations and takes any appropriate measures for the fulfillment of these obligations.
- If the issuer does not comply with its obligations, the nominated advisor takes any necessary actions in order to remedy any failure while informing the CSE on the nature of the failure and the measures that the issuer has taken on.