The rule book for AIM Italia, Borsa Italiana’s answer to the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market for small- and mid-cap stocks, became effective today, bringing the new market closer to launch.
With the rules now effective, AIM Italia’s structure is complete and ready for operation. The platform now needs to appoint Nominated Advisers (Nomads) before issuers can join the market and it can launch officially. Nine Nomads have applied to join AIM Italia, and their applications will be finalised over the next few weeks.
As with AIM, the Nomads serving AIM Italia will assess the suitability of companies looking to list on the market, support the companies once listed, and ensure they comply with the rules. Each listed company must retain a Nomad.
The nine applicants are Abaxbank, Banca Akros, Centrobanca, Eidos Partners, Equita SIM, Intermonte SIM, MPS Capital Services, UniCredit Group and Unipol Merchant.
AIM Italia will be registered as a multilateral trading facility. It will list and trade Italian and other European small-cap firms. The platform will operate on TradElect, the London Stock Exchange’s trading platform.
“The launch of AIM Italia represents one of the key milestones of the merger between Borsa Italiana and the London Stock Exchange,” said Massimo Capuano, CEO of Borsa Italiana, in a statement. “AIM Italia will become a central part of Borsa Italiana’s offering for Italian small and medium sized companies. It has been specifically tailored to meet their needs for growth capital, profile-building opportunities and, in time, a liquid secondary market. It will also provide investors with exciting new investment opportunities and effective principles-based regulatory protection.”