This feature looks at the various key threshold questions which would be of interest to a mining company considering listing overseas, whether they be listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, or on an overseas exchange.

New territory

In the face of increasing competition for new listings a number of exchanges have completed, or are planning, moves or mergers, or are implementing new listing rules, to attract new markets.

In November last year, TSX parent group TMX Group announced plans to open a London office this year with the aim of driving new business in the UK and European markets.

"We've built a strong and diversified portfolio under the TMX Group umbrella and have begun to expand our business to international markets over the last few years," TMX Group chief executive officer Thomas Kloet said.

“With a presence in London, one of the world's leading financial markets, we will be able to accelerate our international growth and better serve our existing and prospective European clients and partners."

The new office should give the TSX access to London-based resource companies.

Meanwhile, an $A8.1 billion takeover offer for the ASX by Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX), announced in October last year, is expected to create an exchange that holds resource companies worth almost $US500 billion.

When the proposal was first announced it was reported a merger of the two exchanges would see the world’s second-largest cluster of companies in the resources sector with more than 900 listings.

While the combination has generally received support from the mining industry, it has not been welcomed by some Australian politicians, casting doubt over the likelihood of its completion.

The proposed merger would see a combined $485 billion of mining, chemical and energy companies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, potentially overpowering the nearest regional rival HKSE, which is home to equivalent companies worth more than $390 billion.

Also potentially gaining new access to Asian markets is the LSE, which announced in January that it had signed an exclusive partnership agreement to restructure and develop the Mongolian Stock Exchange (MSE).

Under the agreement the LSE Group will collaborate with the Mongolian State Property Committee in a number of areas, including providing trading and surveillance infrastructure to the MSE, conducting a comprehensive training program on capital markets infrastructure and legislative frameworks, advising on the modernisation of market rules, procedures, structure and operation and working to implement an international standard Mongolian market index.

Raj Karia is a partner at Norton Rose LLP, London.

This feature was published in The Mining Journal, January 28, 2011.