Experts clarify roles of financial advisor in listing

The role of a financial advisor in a listing is vital from the onset and even after listing as it allows for information disclosure and encourages good governance. This is according to Max Marinelli, a financial advisor and country Managing Partner at Deloitte & Touche who made the observation during a panel discussion on listings at last week’s Botswana Stock Exchange Inaugural Listing conference in Gaborone. For listing to be successful, Marinelli said there is a need for discipline, which requires the owner to give up the power he holds and separate his agenda from that of the business. He said this would allow for proper future strategies to be implemented knowing every aspect of the business including its financial standing. 

Sipho Ziga, an attorney and a partner at Armstrong Attorneys, shared the same views with Marinelli on the importance of disclosure of information saying it protects other stakeholders as they would be aware of what is happening in the company. 

Ziga pointed out that engaging an attorney is essential because in all the steps of listing a lawyer is needed in negotiations and even after the listing. On corporate governance, former Chief Executive Officer of Zambia’s Securities Exchange Commission Dr Evans Wala Chabala clarified that the concept entails the equal treatment of all shareholders by the company. 

He said that all shareholders are given the same information and that for a strategy to be approved by the board all shareholders should have approved it being as fit to bring development to the business. Chabala said that corporations usually remarkably collapse where corporate governance has failed. “Companies should ensure that corporate governance challenges are addressed across the eco-system of capital markets, even foreign investors would prefer high standards of corporate governance for them to invest as they would have assurance of the business moving forward with ease” explained Chabala. 

He added that corporate governance helps an organisation because it provides for more accountability by clearly articulating role and responsibilities of the board.