The Cape Town Stock Exchange

What The Cape Town Stock Exchange does

The Cape Town Stock Exchange (CTSE) is a South African licensed stock exchange specifically designed for small and medium-sized enterprises, headquartered in Cape Town with a regional presence in Johannesburg. Originally launched as 4AX in 2016 and rebranded to CTSE in October 2021, the exchange operates under section 9 of the Financial Markets Act 19 of 2012 and is one of only two South African exchanges licensed to list both equity and debt instruments. CTSE lists ordinary, preference, and impact shares as well as fixed-rate, floating-rate, indexed, and discounted debt instruments, with 18 listed equities and 59 listed instruments representing R7.2B in equity market capitalisation and R9.9B in nominal value in issue. The exchange targets growth companies with market capitalisation up to R8 billion that have been underserved by larger legacy venues.

CTSE's core technology stack is a proprietary, cloud-hosted exchange and registry platform that supports digital direct listings, real-time electronic central registers of beneficial ownership, automated trade surveillance, and POPIA-compliant data segregation. Registry, transfer-secretary, and company-secretarial services are delivered through CTSE Registry Services (Pty) Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary. Revenue is generated through listing fees, trading commissions via licensed brokers, recurring registry service subscriptions to listed and unlisted companies, and managed unlisted debt services through the Capital Solutions division. Distribution is delivered through 12 external equity issuer agents, 16 corporate finance advisors, listed equity brokers (A-Trade, Avior, Peresec), listed debt brokers (AG Capital, Avior, Vunani), the CTSE WebTrader platform, and a pre-listing funnel via a partnership with Abaca (Village Capital). The exchange is 58.38% black-owned and certified as a Level 2 B-BBEE Contributor with 125% procurement recognition.

Name

The Cape Town Stock Exchange

Legal name

Cape Town Stock Exchange Limited (Pty) Ltd

Website

https://ctexchange.co.za

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Cape Town Stock Exchange (CTSE) is a South African licensed stock exchange designed for SMEs, offering cloud-based equity and debt listings, an in-house registry subsidiary, and broker-distributed trading across 18 listed equities and 59 instruments.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Stock Exchange and Securities Trading

NAICS

Securities and Commodity Exchanges (52321)

SIC

Security Brokers, Dealers & Flotation Companies (6211)

akta.pro primary industry

Primary Listing Stock Exchanges (FSAFAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Regional / Local Stock Exchanges (FSAFAAAG)

Keywords

• Stock exchange services
• Equity and debt listings
• Share registry services
• SME capital markets
• Securities trading platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Cape Town

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Listing Fees: Fees charged to companies listing equity or debt instruments on the exchange. The CTSE Fee Schedule document sets out the fees payable by Issuers.
2. Trading Commissions: Revenue from broker trading activities and transaction fees. The exchange enables share trading without minimum fees but maintains a simplified fee structure.
3. Registry Services: Transfer secretary and share registry services offered through CTSE Registry to listed companies and unlisted companies. Services include maintenance of investor accounts, transactional history, dividend payments, and company secretarial services.
4. Unlisted Debt Services: Capital Solutions division offers unlisted debt options for businesses, providing alternative financing solutions beyond listed instruments.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Cape Town Stock Exchange operates a licensed South African stock exchange purpose-built for small and medium-sized businesses, providing equity and debt listing and trading services on a fully digital, cloud-based platform. It bundles exchange functionality with an in-house share registry and transfer secretarial service, enables trading without minimum fees through its WebTrader platform, and extends into unlisted debt services through a Capital Solutions division.

Product overview

The Cape Town Stock Exchange operates as a licensed stock exchange platform offering equity and debt listing and trading services for small and medium-sized businesses. The core platform consists of the Equity Market Platform for ordinary, preference, and impact shares, the Debt Market Platform for bonds and notes, and the proprietary CTSE WebTrader Platform for electronic trading with automated surveillance. These are supported by the Registry Services module providing cloud-based real-time share registry, transfer secretary, company secretarial, and proxy solicitation functions. The Prepare for Funding tool (via Abaca partnership) supports pre-listing business readiness assessment, while the Capital Solutions division offers unlisted debt services for businesses seeking alternatives to a full listing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Equity Market Platform Platform for listing and trading ordinary, preference, and impact shares for small and medium-sized companies, enabling access to capital markets without minimum fees.
• Debt Market Platform Platform for listing and trading fixed rate, floating rate, indexed, and discounted debt instruments including bonds, debentures, notes, and commercial paper.
• CTSE Registry Services Cloud-based, real-time trade registry technology providing transfer secretary and share registry services including shareholder register maintenance, dividend payments, company secretarial services, data services, proxy solicitation, and meeting management, available to both listed and unlisted companies.
• CTSE WebTrader Platform Cloud-based electronic trading platform enabling dealers, traders, and authorised users to directly book trades on the exchange with automated trade surveillance, allowing dealers, traders, and authorised users to book trades directly.
• Prepare for Funding (Abaca Partnership Tool) A free business maturity and investment readiness assessment tool developed by Village Capital (Abaca), guiding entrepreneurs through investment readiness across 8 categories and providing CTSE referrals to assessment-stage businesses.
• Unlisted Debt Services Capital Solutions division offering unlisted debt options for businesses not seeking a full listing, providing alternative financing solutions beyond listed instruments.

Quantifiable outcome

• R7.2B total equity market capitalisation
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Abaca (Village Capital)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Abaca, a platform developed by Village Capital, to offer SME businesses a free tool that helps assess business maturity and investment readiness. CTSE refers potential listing candidates through this partnership to help entrepreneurs progress through investment readiness stages.
• A-TradecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorListed equity broker providing trade execution services for retail and institutional investors on the CTSE exchange.
• AVIOR_EQcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorListed equity broker providing trade execution services on the CTSE exchange.
• PERESECcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorListed equity broker providing trade execution services on the CTSE exchange.
• AG CapitalcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorListed debt broker providing debt instrument trading services on the CTSE exchange.
• Vunani Capital MarketscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorListed debt broker providing debt instrument trading services on the CTSE exchange.
• Java CapitalcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExternal equity issuer agent facilitating company listings on the CTSE exchange.
• PSG CapitalcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExternal equity issuer agent facilitating company listings on the CTSE exchange.
• QuestcocoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExternal equity issuer agent facilitating company listings on the CTSE exchange.
• InvesteccoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExternal debt issuer agent and listed issuer on CTSE, facilitating debt listings and providing investment banking services.
• Standard Bank of South AfricacoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExternal debt issuer agent facilitating debt listings on the CTSE exchange.
• Nedbank CIBcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExternal debt issuer agent facilitating debt listings on the CTSE exchange.
• FirstRand BankcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExternal debt issuer agent facilitating debt listings on the CTSE exchange.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• ZAR X: Former South African alternative stock exchange targeting SME listings with low-cost structure, similar in concept to CTSE. ZAR X had its FMA license revoked and provides a cautionary precedent for the regulatory and scale risks CTSE faces as a small competitor to JSE.
• The International Stock Exchange (TISE): Jersey-based stock exchange specializing in listings of smaller and mid-cap issuers, debt securities, and ESG-focused products. TISE is directly comparable as a smaller, niche-focused exchange targeting non-mainstream issuers with a streamlined listing process.
• A2X Markets: A second South African licensed exchange providing secondary listing and trading services with lower fee structures targeting the same listed equities universe. A2X competes head-to-head with CTSE for trading volume and broker routing decisions among South African listed companies.

Emerging players

• Aquis Exchange: European multilateral trading facility and exchange offering listing and trading services with technology-driven, lower-cost positioning. Comparable to CTSE as a smaller, technology-led exchange seeking to compete with larger incumbents on cost and accessibility rather than scale.

Regional players

• Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX): Small Southern African stock exchange providing listings and trading services for Namibian and dual-listed companies. Comparable to CTSE as a small regional African venue, though focused on Namibia rather than South Africa.
• Nairobi Securities Exchange: East Africa's largest stock exchange, operating a multi-asset platform with both equity and debt listings. Comparable in regulatory and SME-listing focus but operates primarily in Kenya rather than Southern Africa, making it a regional rather than direct competitor.
• Bourse de Tunis: North African stock exchange operating equity and debt markets in Tunisia, comparable in scale and product mix to CTSE. Functions as a regional African exchange with similar regulatory infrastructure challenges, though focused on a different geographic market.
• Botswana Stock Exchange: Regional Southern African exchange offering equity and debt listings with a relatively small listed universe similar in scale to CTSE. Comparable as a small African stock exchange targeting local issuers, though it operates in a different SADC jurisdiction.

Broad incumbents

• Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE Limited): South Africa's dominant stock exchange and the only other FMA-licensed venue for both equity and debt listings. JSE is the entrenched incumbent against which CTSE directly competes for SME issuers and institutional trading flow, though JSE's broader market focus and deeper liquidity make it a far larger broad-incumbent rather than a direct niche competitor.

Others

• Strate (STRATE): South African central securities depository providing settlement and clearing infrastructure for the JSE and other exchanges. Strate is an adjacent market infrastructure provider rather than a direct competitor, but is a critical counterparty whose policies and pricing affect CTSE's operational economics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Cape Town Stock Exchange