Valereum secures GFSC approval to acquire Gibraltar Stock Exchange
Valereum Plc has received consent from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC) to complete the acquisition of the Gibraltar Stock Exchange (GSX). The deal is subject only to conventional conditions pertaining to regulatory and working capital as required.
The future focus of GSX will be to expand the access to European capital for early stage and small-cap companies in the Middle East, India and Africa where there is a huge opportunity to empower entrepreneurs across the region.
In addition, Valereum will be launching its NFT strategy in the first quarter of next year linking real world assets via NFT ownership.
Also today, Valereum announced that its candidates for the new board of the GSX have all been approved by the GFSC. The following appointments will officially take place with the completion of the change of control process:
- Chairman: Richard Poulden, the Chairman of Valereum Plc.
- Executive Director: Patrick L Young
- Chief Financial Officer: Jack Sun
- Non-Executive Directors: Simon Brickles and James Lasry.
Chairman Richard Poulden noted:
“We are delighted to have received this news from the GFSC and look forward to completing the acquisition of the GSX. It is auspicious to be announcing this on the day of the Gibraltar Financial Services Lunch in London.
We have ambitious plans for the GSX and for Valereum linking the fiat and digital worlds. All our expansion plans will be fully regulated in the environments in which we plan to operate.
The GSX will harness proven exchange technology from established providers and will be updated with full front to back trading and clearing functionality on a significant scale and expandability.
We have created an excellent board to move the exchange forward and I am particularly pleased that Simon Brickles will remain as a Non-Executive Board member providing counsel from his extensive knowledge of exchanges and as the founding Father of the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market (“AIM”).
Equally our robust governance structure includes James Lasry, a Partner at Hassans International Law Firm Limited where he is Head of Funds and Deputy Head of Financial Services. James has been a stalwart at the epicenter of Gibraltar’s financial centre development particularly in the funds segment.
Patrick L Young has been invaluable to Valereum already in helping plan our strategy and he brings a wealth of knowledge and forward thinking to the business of exchanges.”
The acquisition is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2023.