JSE Limited, the operator of the South African bourse, will institute cost-cutting measures as part of its efforts to become "as nimble and as cost-effective as possible", CEO Nicky Newton-King says.
Newton-King said on Friday that to achieve agility, the group would re-engineer its cost base. This would include the retrenchment of up to 60 people from its staff.
"We are taking these difficult steps, particularly regarding our staff, while recognising our responsibility to operate the JSE so as to enhance the trust in the South African financial markets," she said.
The changes to be implemented were not as a direct result of the new competition, but of the overall environment in which the company operated, Newton-King said.
"The stock exchange space is becoming more demanding. Global securities exchanges and other players in the financial services industry are changing the way in which they operate in response to regulatory and technology developments.
"The macroeconomic environment is also challenging. We haven’t done this for our competitors, but as a result of a combination of factors," she said.
Until August 2016, the JSE operated as a monopoly. However, the Financial Services Board changed that when it granted 4 Africa Exchange and Zar X licences to trade. A2X markets was granted its licence in April this year.
The JSE said it planned to cut its overheads by R170m a year by 2019. It would reduce its technology operating expenditure by at least R70m over two years and retrench 14% of its staff by the end of 2017. The JSE had already achieved about R65m in annualised savings through a combination of removing vacancies and reducing discretionary expenditure.
Meanwhile, Leanne Parsons, the alternate executive director for information services, would step down from the executive committee board, the JSE said.
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