Alternative securities markets as financing sources for SMEs – selected aspects of AIM and NC

Abstract

Small and medium-sized enterprises are the foundation for the development of each contemporary national economy. Their number affects macroeconomic indices of economies and directly translates into the labour market created by SMEs. This article aims to investigate the key conditionings behind the macroeconomic significance and legal factors of the financial market operation in Poland and the UK, with particular emphasis on the stock exchange as the fundamental element of the capital market. Both AIM and NewConnect are platforms dedicated to SMEs, which have been allowed easier access to this capital market segment by minimising mandatory legal conditions. This study analyses the number of listed companies and their capitalisation values in 1999–2015, covering: the rules of the financial market operation, with a special focus on the legal bases of the stock market operation in the economies investigated; legal conditions for the development of this economic segment; and a detailed analysis of the number of participants and capitalisation values achieved on the Warsaw and London Stock Exchanges, in particular AIM and NewConnect. This paper builds on source data from various annual reports and stock exchange publications drawn up and made available by stock exchanges and financial supervisors. The attempt to compare the indices and capacities of the WSE and the NC with the biggest European player is motivated by the fact that the Warsaw Stock Exchange is classified as the largest and most dynamically growing stock exchange in Central and Eastern Europe.