On September 16, 2020, the authorities in charge of the Umoa financial market launched the online stock exchange service on the Brvm. What are the main innovations related to this technology? Focus on the first Management and Intermediation Companies (SGI) eligible for this service

After experimenting with centralized electronic trading (entry of orders at the Brvm) and decentralized electronic trading (entry of orders by management and intermediation companies), Brvm innovated by setting up the online stock exchange service. The latter consists of transmitting orders from clients' mobile phones, tablets, etc. to be routed to the Brvm trading system. In instruction No. 57/2018 concerning online trading on the regional financial market, the Regional Council for Public Savings and Financial Markets (Crepmf) states that online stock exchange activity includes at least the service of reception/transmission of orders on financial instruments via an electronic medium. The term “online” necessarily implies the use of information and telecommunications technologies through electronic terminals connected to the Internet or any other public or private network. The investor will be able to consult his account at any time and send stock market orders directly to his SGI or to an authorized order collector

With regard to the scope of application, the Crepmf instruction applies to any legal or natural person who carries out the activity of collecting orders via an electronic medium. This person may be a Management and Intermediation Company (Sgi) that receives orders from customers or another order collector and forwards them to the Brvm for execution. To date, concerning the effective implementation of the online stock exchange, out of the thirty approved SGIs, only ten had expressed interest in carrying out the tests. In total, two SGIs are now able to offer the online stock exchange service. These are Sgi Boa Capital Securities (based in Côte d'Ivoire and Benin) and Cgf Bourse (Senegal). In clear terms, these two structures have the computer equipment necessary to set up the online stock exchange and a platform that takes into account Fix messages and respects the characteristics of stock market orders. For Cgf Bourse, it was by decision No. Crepmf/2020/183, of September 17, 2020, that it received authorization to operate an online stock exchange on the Umoa regional financial market. In addition to SGI, this service can also be applied to a Wealth Management Company (SGP), to a business provider who receives orders from his clients and forwards them to an SGI for transmission to the Brvm for execution

Article 7 of the Crepmf instruction specifies the functioning of the online stock exchange system. In fact, the order collector must ensure that he always has a reliable and efficient system and a backup system capable of taking over the main system in the event of a failure. In the event of a malfunction in the order reception system, the order collector must endeavor to inform users of the nature and the foreseeable duration of these disruptions. The order collector describes, in the account opening agreement or in the online stock exchange agreement, the alternative equipment put at the customer's disposal in the event of a one-time interruption of the service