The London Stock Exchange has made minor changes to the availability of derogations from Rule 36 of the AIM Rules for Companies (Rules). Under Rule 36, securities that are admitted to AIM must be eligible for electronic settlement. In the past, the Exchange provided derogations from Rule 36 to enable the admission to AIM of certain US securities that historically were not eligible for electronic settlement in CREST, known as Regulation S, Category 3 securities. However, the Central Securities Depository (CSD) requires transactions in transferable securities that take place on a trading venue (such as AIM) to be recorded in book entry form in a CSD, that is, they must be settled electronically.
As a result, the Exchange expects all Regulation S, Category 3 securities to be eligible for electronic settlement within a CSD. Therefore, with effect from 1 September 2015, derogations from Rule 36 will no longer be available for such securities.
A copy of the notice can be viewed on the London Stock Exchange website.