Resource World Magazine

26 www.resourceworld.com o c t o b e r / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 4 With offices in Toronto, the financial capital of Canada, and Vancouver, the mineral exploration capital of the world, the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) is ideally positioned as an alternative stock exchange for entrepreneurs with a com- pany seeking access the Canadian public capital markets. In business for over a decade, the CSE has seen a steady growth in listings cov- ering a variety of industrial sectors. In an interview, Richard Carlton, CEO, and James Black, Vice President Listings, explained to Resource World how the CSE operates and its future prospects. Resource World: There is already the TSX Venture Exchange for junior compa- nies. Did you see a need for another junior exchange? Richard Carlton: Yes – absolutely. We believed that there was substantial room to lower the cost of public capital for entrepreneurs in Canada with a regula- tion model that reduces the amount of administrative overhead for companies listed on our exchange. At the same time, it increases the amount of information available for company shareholders and prospective investors. We have a small group of people at the CSE, but collectively we have a great deal of experience in the public capital markets in Canada – from business development, senior management, regulation and trading. We thought the skill sets we brought to the table could deliver the lower costs of capital for companies that work with us. RW: Could you briefly summarize the his- tory of the CSE? RC: We launched in summer 2003 as the Canadian Trading and Quotation System. The organization was recognized as a stock exchange under the Ontario Securities Act with companion recognition from British Columbia, Alberta and Québec as well as other recognitions from provincial securities commissions. The organization rebranded as the Canadian National Stock Exchange. As well, we operated a distinct trading facility called Pure Trading that traded stocks that are also listed on the TSX and the TSX Venture Exchange. We were the first to launch under the Pure brand a competitive continuous option market system in Canada in 2007. We subsequently consolidated all the trad- ing activity onto a single platform as of last December and then rebranded it as the Canadian Securities Exchange. RW: What kind of companies have you been attracting for a listing? RC: The companies that come to us reflect the mix of early-stage capital companies across the Canadian economy. In general terms, roughly half of our listings are min- ing and oil & gas related companies. The other half is represented by companies such as biotech, pharmaceutical, tech- nology and general industrials that have decided to access public capital. The distri- bution is basically the same as you would see in the broader Canadian economy. RW: Are these companies based in Toronto or Vancouver or are they strung out across the country? RC: Most of the provinces and territories in Canada are represented on the CSE. As might be expected, about half of our list- ings are domiciled in BC or Alberta with Ontario being the next biggest source of listings and then Québec. Currently, the CSE has 236 listings. RW: What kind of reception have you been getting from companies inquiring about obtaining a listing? RC: We have had a great year to date with tremendous growth in our listings. For example, more than 25% of the listings in Canada this year have listed on the CSE. Given the size and breadth of applications that we have in the pipeline, it's clear that we are going to break all of the records that we have previously set and we will exceed our forecasts for the year by a com- fortable margin. This tells us that we have received a very positive reception from prospective issu- Richard Carlton, Chief Executive Officer, CSE. James Black, Vice President Listings, CSE. CAnADiAn SeCuriTieS exChAnGe attracting start-ups by Ellsworth Dickson INVESTMENT

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