South Africa: Newsletter: FreeFlow

Welcome to the very first edition of FreeFlow. The FreeFlow is a business information vehicle designed to keep JSE staff members up to date on issues related to the JSE. The information is being disseminated in an electronic format to ensure that all staff members receive the same information simultaneously. FreeFlow will appear on your screens on a monthly basis and will contain information on Gateway 2002, forum news, market indicators, Human Resources information and explanations of various business concepts relating to the JSE and the financial markets in general.

Every month we will introduce a business concept as simply as possible in order to give staff insight into the various business concepts that drive financial markets. We will also include the key market indicators for the JSE and explain what they are.

LIQUIDITY: Liquidity of the market is the state of affairs in a stock market in which it is generally easy to convert securities into cash and vice versa, without causing a movement in prices. Higher liquidity means that the shares are traded more frequently so can be sold more easily. This makes those shares more attractive to investors.

The JSE has been steadily building up its liquidity since 1995.

The JSE's liquidity requirements are currently under review following a meeting of the Liquidity Rating sub-committee on 10 February 2000.

There are several key market indicators that allow us to track the performance of the JSE. These are value traded, volume traded, number of deals and the All-Share index.

The value traded on the JSE is a key market indicator that shows the transaction amount in local currency (i.e. Rands) traded on the market at any specified period of time.

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Volume traded on the JSE is another key market indicator that shows the number of shares that were traded on the market at any specified period of time.

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The number of deals traded shows the number of transactions effected on the market at any specified period of time.

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The All-Share index is an overall measure of the performance of the JSE at any given point in time, as a measurement of the performance of shares of listed companies.

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Gateway 2002 is gearing the JSE to face the challenges posed by the global environment:

• global competition
• economic liberalisation and deregulation
• global connectivity and increased ease of access to information
• technological innovation and the impact of the Internet
• Electronic Communications Networks (ECN) and Alternative Trading Systems (ATS)
• risk management and the implementation of new technologies

Gateway 2002 Stage 2: 40 days has celebrated an 86% success rate for the business outcomes identified, despite last-minute timeline changes. Stage 3 "Interim Business" got underway on 1 June 2000 and will run until 30 September 2000.

Every second Wednesday a group of people from the Gateway 2002 Programme and other key participants gather in the Gateway Forum. The Gateway Forum is a valuable means of:

• providing business input on projects
• understanding progress and providing support and direction
• providing input to project dependencies, identifying duplication of efforts and integrating project issues
• discussing decisions that impact on project scope
• disseminating key decisions and information shared in the Gateway Forum to business areas

The next Gateway Forum is on 21 June 2000.

The Great Move Project is well in hand. A Relocation committee has been established to coordinate the many aspect of the move to the new office in Sandton. It is anticipated that all JSE divisions will have relocated by the end of September 2000. Standard Bank Properties has confirmed that the construction of the new building is going according to schedule and will be ready for occupation on 31 August 2000. The structure itself is complete and work is well underway on the installation of air conditioning, sprinklers, electrical and plumbing services. All floor partition layouts have been finalised and paint and wallpaper are being applied on most levels. JH Isaacs, Colliers RMS and Facilities Management Africa have submitted tenders for the integrated facilities management of the three buildings.

Any further queries should be addressed to your divisional representative. Relocation Working Group Representatives:

Cathy van den Heever - New Business Support

Derek Bentley - IT

Lesley Snailham - HR

Gary Clarke - Legal Counsel

Danie Mouton - Strategy & Marketing

Rudi Bam - Listings

Leigh Smit - Market Operations

Hylton Marks - Surveillance

Frans Loeve - Finance

Waldemar Budeli - Emerging Markets

Colin Williams - Support

Joy Becker - Secretarial Services

Rentia Vendeiro - President's Office

The views and opinions expressed in this message are those of the individual sender of this message and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the JSE. Consequently, the JSE does not accept responsibility for such views and opinions and this message should not be read as representing the views and opinions of the JSE without subsequent written confirmation. Each page attached hereto must also be read in conjunction with this disclaimer. "Confidentiality note: This message is intended for the addressee only. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, you are notified that any distribution, use of or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received the communication in error, please notify the sender immediately."