Securities listing levels. What is it and how do they differ

Many investors are familiar with such a parameter of securities as the listing level, which is determined on a scale from 1 to 3. Some, for whom the listing level is something incomprehensible, do not attach a certain importance to this parameter, and some use it in their investment practice. Moreover, often for the second group of investors, as for the first, this indicator can be an absolute “black box” - investors do not understand how it is assigned and why. And how to correctly interpret and use this information?

In our article we will look at this topic in detail and try to answer the following questions:

What is listing and listing levels?
What are the requirements for assigning securities to the appropriate listing level?
How to use listing levels in practice?

Listing - what is it?

The word listing is a financial, economic and marketing term. You and I will consider the financial and economic term in relation to trading exchange platforms, giving several examples from the marketing industry, for a better understanding of this term.

Benefits for the company

The advantages that a company has by being listed on the stock market are that

reliability increases and trust on the part of all market participants increases;
public fame and popularity;
wide access to relatively cheap sources of financial resources;
very high (and even potentially unlimited) opportunities to attract additional financial resources for the effective development of the company;
increased growth of the company's capitalization due to increased demand and prices for its securities;
high liquidity of securities issued by the issuer;
in some cases, receiving special tax benefits.

The essence of the listing

In addition to the banal presence of a list of securities, the essence of listing lies in the following obligations:

• The very essence of listing lies in the totality of supervision , control and other procedures preceding the moment when the securities that were submitted for consideration can be included in this very “cherished list”. That is, listing is a procedure for “selecting” securities.

• Exercising direct control over whether the securities offered for consideration by the issuer comply with all international standards and requirements, as well as the criteria and conditions established by the stock exchange accepting securities for circulation. In other words, this is a process that allows you to monitor the stability of the “reliability” of these same securities.

*If you look at the term listing from the point of view of the Russian language as a science, it turns out that the term and the word itself are both a noun and an adjective.

Features of Russian listing

All over the world, companies undergoing the listing process receive a number of undeniable benefits for shareholders and, as a result, for themselves. The main advantage is to improve the company's image and increase the liquidity of securities, as well as to significantly expand the circle of shareholders, including large institutional investors. For Russian companies that have undergone the listing procedure in Russia, there is an opportunity to attract the most conservative investment community - Russian and foreign institutional investors. Management companies are allowed to invest pension savings only in securities that are included in the stock exchange quotation lists.

In Russia, investing in listed securities provides additional opportunities that allow investors to seamlessly and effectively implement a variety of investment strategies.

Of course, the main requirement is timely disclosure of information, market capitalization and the number of shares in free float, as well as mandatory compliance with a number of standards of corporate conduct.

Listing as a form of sorting securities.

In addition, the listing performs the function of “sorting” shares, bonds and other securities, as a result of which it is determined where this or that representing security will end up. According to the degree of publicity, listing is divided into two categories:

• Primary listing.

• Secondary listing.

The primary listing category includes securities that have passed the “selection” according to the criteria and conditions put forward by the internal exchange. That is, national. The secondary listing must be carried out according to international rules and conditions, so that the shares can be traded on international exchanges.

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Listing - information from Wikipedia

However, listing as a phenomenon has found application for everyday tasks. For example, in order not to keep a large number of different tasks or assignments in your head, for convenience you can “outline” the so-called “to-do list” - a list of current affairs. You can also create a “check list” - that is, a readiness sheet that indicates the basic requirements or criteria for a successfully implemented project. In production, a note sheet or “snagging list” is often used, which allows you to analyze breakdowns and make suggestions for correcting them.

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For example, let's take share N, a Russian company. So, when passing the primary listing, it can circulate, that is, trade and attract investors, only on the Russian Moscow Exchange. But let’s assume that the legal representative of this N company, which owns this same N share, has the prerequisites and all the opportunities, according to the criteria of these securities, to nominate shares on the NASDAQ stock exchange. In this case, this security must undergo a secondary listing, of course, with more demanding international conditions.

Concept

Listing on the stock exchange is a procedure for admitting securities to free circulation and trading. The result of its implementation is the inclusion of shares, bonds, investment shares, mortgage certificates and depository receipts in the exchange quotation list.

The term in question comes from the English word listing, which translated means adding to the list.

If we consider the listing process in more detail, we should highlight 2 important components:

formalities and procedures that precede the inclusion of shares and bonds in the quotation list;
control over the compliance of each investment instrument with the requirements existing on a particular exchange.

But why is it needed? What are its goals?

Listing is carried out in relation to each issuer trading on stock exchange markets. It allows you to select for trading shares of only companies that meet accepted requirements, which relate to basic financial indicators, liquidity levels and risks.

In fact, we are talking about the regime for admitting securities to the stock exchange quotation list.

Listing Process

The listing process includes the following mandatory steps:

• Initially, the issuer, that is, the legal representative of the company, must submit an official application , with all the rules of the exchange platform on which it is planned to list the securities and, subsequently, on which these securities will be traded.

• The next process consists of drawing up an agreement between the issuing company and the exchange , which clearly states all the conditions and requirements for the profitability of the company itself, the liquidity of its assets, etc. Such an audit is necessary to establish an assessment of the issuer's reliability.

• The next stage will be the provision of all necessary information related to the financial and economic activities of the issuer company. Such as the company’s financial statements for the last few years, as well as documents regarding IPO - Initial Public Offering, which translates as “first public offering”.

After the issuer company has provided all the necessary information, certificates and documents, the exchange commission, also called the quotation commission, considers the potential of the proposed securities and makes a final decision on including the assets in question in the listing list of the exchange platform.

Bond listing levels

The quality of bonds is assessed based on an assessment of the financial stability of its issuer. That is, in the case of bonds, the main criterion is reliability. This requirement is dictated by the specifics of this asset. If we put everything into everyday language, then a bond is a debt instrument. By purchasing it, you lend funds to the issuer, and at the end of a predetermined period he undertakes to return the face value of the bond (on the redemption date) plus during the entire period that you hold the bond in your portfolio, he pays you interest for using this loan (coupon payments). The financial stability of the issuer is a kind of guarantee that your debtor (issuer) will regularly pay coupons and ultimately return the loan amount to you. We assess the reliability or financial stability of the issuer based on such indicators as: debt load (ratio of equity and borrowed funds on the balance sheet), dynamics of revenue and profit.

Below we give examples of reliable bonds among the 3rd list of the exchange listing and examples of risky ones from the 1st.

Case Bonds FC Otkrytie

. September 13, 2013 Trading started in 3 bond issues of the issuer. All issues were assigned to the first level quotation list A, that is, they were assigned the highest level.

FC Otkritie - at that time was one of the leading private financial companies with a diversified profile of activities - providing insurance, banking, brokerage and other services. The key asset is the Bank of the same name, which was included in the TOP-25 Russian banks.

Due to the large outflow of liquidity in 2021. Otkritie Bank was on the verge of default, and in relation to it in 2021. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation initiated the reorganization procedure. Now Otkritie Bank is a state bank. But FC Otkritie, after this whole situation, lost most of its assets in 2021. declared his bankruptcy. One of the issues of the list that we indicated above is still in circulation; there are defaults on coupon payments on it. Release from 2021 transferred by the exchange to the 3rd level of listing. You can see the current parameters of the OtkrHOL 6 bond in our Radar service:

This is an example of the risks an investor bears by paying attention only to the listing indicator. The risks in this specified case are non-payment of coupon income and minimal probability of return of the invested funds.

Case Bond Khakas2016 issued by the Republic of Khakassia.

The issue is classified by the exchange as level 3 listing. If we consider the issuer, then this is an industrial region with significant natural resources. One of the few Russian regions with a surplus budget structure. The region's debt obligations in the structure of the gross regional product are less than 10%. Khakas Bond 2016 was selected as one of the best in our annual review “Best Bonds 2021”.

Among the bonds of the 3rd level of listing, this is not the only example of municipal securities. The “third echelon” includes bonds of the Republic of Mordovia (Mordovia03), the Moscow Government (MGor69-ob), the Oryol Region (OrlObl2017), and the Khabarovsk Territory (KhabarKray7). In terms of reliability, municipal bonds are on the second level after government bonds of OFZ. Issuers are municipalities and regions. Through the issuance of bonds, they raise funds to cover budget deficits or to implement large infrastructure projects. The probability of default on municipal securities is extremely low.

Marketing Listing Example

Let's look at the term listing in the marketing industry so that we can understand this meaning of the word at a “primitive” level:

Let's assume that an agricultural organization produces vegetables in large quantities. But it does not have retail outlets for selling the goods it produces. In this case, a representative of this organization applies to a large retail chain with an application for the provision of marketing trade services to sell the company’s goods.

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Their next step, naturally subject to agreement, will be to draw up an agreement in which all the requirements and conditions will be clearly stated, both on the part of the distribution network and on the part of the supplier of the goods.

The main points of such agreements, as a rule, are the timely delivery of goods, the collection of interest, in addition to commissions for the service by a representative of the retail chain from the supplier of the goods, etc. Sometimes, in such “relationships” it reaches the point of absurdity, up to the “demand” of the retail chain for the supply of new equipment and consumables, for example, pallets!

Types and purposes of listing

It turns out that the listing, in a sense, acts as a filter that “weeds out” products that do not fit the specified parameters. This means that companies that successfully complete the listing process automatically increase their ranking in the eyes of investors or consumers.

Thus, issuers come to the attention of large investors. For investors themselves, listing is a “test” of a company’s financial reliability.
For a retailer, listing is an opportunity to expand the range of product lines in the retail chain.
For a supplier (manufacturer), inclusion in the coveted list is an opportunity to present their product to the consumer, as well as increase brand awareness among buyers.
Perhaps only for the buyer, listing is not only a variety on store shelves, but also additional costs, because retail chains include listing costs in the cost of goods. Typically, listing costs are “increased” according to the following scheme: the costs of service support for sales and marketing activities to promote new products are added to the selling price of the product.

Main criteria for listing on the Moscow Exchange

Moscow Stock Exchange building

Each exchange platform, as mentioned above, has its own requirements for the “filter” of securities in order to access its own listing. But still, by international standards, most of them are identical. Here are the main criteria for companies and their assets, regarding requirements from issuers:

• The total, cumulative value of all assets of the issuer company.

• The company's net profit from their business activities for the past years specified in the contract.

• The total size of the issue and delivery of placed securities for exchange trading.

Among other things, each specific exchange may have its own criteria for selecting securities for its exchange listing. Let’s look at the main criteria for selecting the assets of an issuer that wants to place its securities on trading platforms, the Moscow Exchange.

But here, it is worth explaining that on the Moscow Exchange, the list of assets admitted to trading consists of 3 levels:

1 – Quotation list of the first level.

2 – Second level quotation list.

3 – Third level quotation list.

Listing levels in shares

A qualitative characteristic of a stock is the investment idea embedded in it, which can be realized and push the quotes up. We will give examples of cases from our public investment portfolio - how investments in shares of the 3rd level of listing brought an impressive effect. And also an example of the result of investment ideas not on the first quotation list, which are now showing excellent results, realizing their growth potential, which in the future can quite possibly bring them to the first level of listing. But the point here is not the listing.

Case of the Raspadskaya PJSC promotion

. The shares of the specified issuer are on the second level quotation list. The promotion page in the service is Raspadskaya. Company page – PJSC Raspadskaya.

We identified the shares of this company as promising investment ideas for 2021. in our Best Stocks of 2021 article. This choice was based on the results of a fundamental analysis of the issuer: we saw high growth rates of both financial and production indicators; undervaluation based on the P/E multiplier, which was almost 2 times lower than the average market valuation of the entire Russian market. An analysis of financial flows showed that the company's high profit and cash flow indicators allowed it to accumulate a significant liquidity cushion on its balance sheet. There was speculation that the company was accumulating funds for some major acquisition. Perhaps the acquisition of a large core asset, which could significantly increase the scale of the issuer's activities. And our assumptions were justified. In November 2021 The issuer announced the conclusion of a major transaction - the purchase of the Yuzhkusbassugol company. Such an investment could potentially make Raspadskaya PJSC one of the largest producers of coking coal. Against the backdrop of news about the completed transaction, the company's shares rushed up and grew by 16.5% over several trading sessions. And the total for 2021 investors who held Raspadskaya shares in their investment portfolio, excluding dividends, earned 43.6%.

This case is discussed in more detail in our article “The Best Stocks of 2020”; the results of the case are “The Best Stocks of 2021”.

Cases from our public investment portfolio.

Our company has its own investment fund, which is invested in securities of Russian and foreign companies. Information on the structure of our investment portfolio is available to our clients. Annual support with analytics. When selecting securities for our investment portfolio, we do not focus on listing levels, but analyze the fundamental components of investment ideas. This approach allowed us to overtake the market by 3 times in profitability for 5 years in a row and even the crisis year of 2021. close with a profit of 22% on the Russian market. You can find out more about examples of implemented and closed investment ideas from our public portfolio on our website:

Case of the share of PJSC Nizhnekamskneftekhim (listing 3) - over 4.5 years the share brought a return of 319%.
Case of shares of PJSC Kazanorgsintez (listing 3) - return on shares for 2 years 11 months 340%.
Case of shares of PJSC Cherkizovo Group (3rd listing) - total return for 2.5 years 91.7%.

Listing Criteria

So, let's take a quick look at some of the main criteria for listing on the Moscow Exchange. That's right, our material aims to find out what a listing is, and not its meticulously precise legal details.

• Placed shares and bonds must fully comply with all requirements of the regulatory act of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and the requirements of Russian legislation.

• Mandatory registration of prospectus for assets and securities.

• Mandatory disclosure of information and transparency about securities, in accordance with all laws of the Russian Federation.

• Bonds must be accepted for servicing by the Settlement Depository.

• The volume of the bond issue must not exceed at least 2,000,000 rubles for inclusion in the first-level quotation list, and at least 500,000 rubles for inclusion in the second-level quotation list.

• The par value of bonds cannot exceed 50,000 rubles.

• The history of the issuer's company must not be less than 3 years for inclusion in the first level list, and at least one year for inclusion in the second level list.

• Mandatory publication of financial statements for the last three years.

• No losses for the company, based on the results of two years out of the three considered (the last).

• During the existence of the issuing company, it should not have any cases of default. But if everything is so and it took place, then after its fact, at least 3 years should have passed for inclusion in the first-level quotation list, and at least 2 years for inclusion in the second-level quotation list.

• The issuer's company has security in the amount of at least the nominal value of all bonds included in the list, including the total coupon income.

• The issuer company must designate a legal representative.

• The issuer company must comply with the requirements for corporate governance set out in clause 2.20 of Appendix 2 of the Moscow Exchange listing rules.

This is not a complete list of criteria and requirements for issuers of securities, because if we consider all the points in this paragraph, then, I’m afraid, the material will get boring faster than it will be of practical use.
I can only assure you that you can find complete information on the official website of the Moscow Exchange;

Requirements for bond listing levels

Note:

**Credit rating levels. For the purposes of including bonds in listing levels 1 and 2, the Moscow Exchange has established the following requirements for the list of rating agencies and credit rating levels:

The purpose of a credit rating is to reflect the level of financial stability and solvency of a company. Read more about credit ratings and the application of this parameter in practice in our article “Credit ratings of companies.”

What does the process of listing a company provide to the issuer?

First of all, of course, this is additional income for the company from investors. How does this happen? Look; In the process of financial and economic activity of an organization or company, there are always (in most cases) free funds remaining, which are also net profit. So it turns out that why not then use them on the trading floors of the exchange, in the form of securities, shares and bonds, in order to attract third-party investors?

Indeed, in such a situation, the legal representative of the issuing company no longer needs to deal with unnecessary problems, such as the banking sector or credit institutions! In addition, securities traded on an officially state exchange always inspire more confidence on the part of potential investors than, say, financial instruments on the “over-the-counter” securities market. And this, in turn, has a beneficial effect on the value of assets, as a result of which it has an even greater impact on investment in the issuer’s company.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Listing

True, today in Russia the influence of listing on domestic exchanges is very conditional. This is explained primarily by the imperfection and instability of the economy.

Nevertheless, advantages from including a company’s securities in the stock exchange’s quotation list. First of all,

this means that the company meets the listing requirements set by exchanges. Another advantage is that it will be easier to obtain a loan for a company; if it turns out that the market value of the company’s assets is higher than the book value, then the terms of the loan will be much better. For companies planning to carry out mergers and acquisitions, listing can be a favorable and sometimes decisive factor. The cost of such a company for potential investors is no secret, since the quotation of the company’s shares on the stock exchange is the market price of the enterprise.

The advantages of listing securities have been listed above, but, unfortunately, there are also disadvantages . For example, for a company, presence on the stock exchange may mean some control, which means that all actions, both successful and unsuccessful, necessarily affect the price of shares. Therefore, such “transparency” may not appeal to all companies. Additionally, the listing process is far from free and will cost you a listing fee as well as once-a-year maintenance fees. In addition to listing, delisting of securities is also provided, that is, the exclusion of company shares from the stock exchange listing. Delisting is carried out both by the exchange and by decision of the company itself.

Particular disadvantages of listing include:

additional control over the company (with listing the company assumes additional obligations);
additional expenses;
market indifference.

Investors, both foreign and Russian, are gradually and consistently raising demands that the transparency of Russian issuers be evident. All this is done to monitor and control the risks of their investments in their securities. When going through the listing procedure, as a rule, issuers of securities must be subject to appropriate requirements and therefore are subject to a number of strict responsibilities.

This established procedure has a stimulating effect on issuers and thereby increases their transparency and openness to the investment community and the general public. All this serves one purpose, namely, it helps to strengthen the mutual trust that should exist between issuers of securities and investors, since they are participants in the securities market.

The higher the listing level, the higher the requirements for corporate governance, capitalization and trading volume of the company's securities.

The conditions for the listing procedure are clear and absolutely transparent. The issuing company only has to prepare a set of necessary documents. To include securities in the quotation list on the stock exchange, the applicant provides an Application and a set of documents: constituent, registration, issue, financial and other documents. The full list of documents can be viewed in the relevant appendices to the Exchange's listing rules.

Depending on the type of listed securities, as well as whether their issuer has listed securities on exchanges in other countries, the listing of securities may be distinguished by specialists into the following types:

Primary listing – primary listing. This is a procedure for listing the issuer's securities on a separate (local) market. When a company seeks to reach the international level, in order to obtain permission from the Federal Service for Financial Markets to place and (or) circulate equity securities of a Russian issuer outside the Russian Federation, it must fulfill one important condition - undergo a primary listing in Russia.
Secondary listing – secondary listing. This is the listing of the issuer's securities on one or more foreign stock exchanges. For Russian issuers, for example, a secondary listing is possible only after the primary listing of shares on the Russian trading platform.
A special listing is a listing of a company's securities that are issued for a specific purpose. Such securities are typically bought and sold by professional securities market participants. For example, Eurobonds, which, as a rule, are traded only among large market players and, as a rule, are not traded at all among small investors.

Listing terminology may differ - it all depends on the type of securities of the issuer that undergo the listing procedure on trading platforms. There are:

Direct listing – direct listing. Its essence lies mainly in the registration of a new company and its passage through the listing procedure.
Depository Receipts – depository receipts. As a rule, a company's depositary receipts are listed on a foreign exchange.
Dual listing – double listing. This is when a company successively goes through the listing procedure on several stock exchanges within one country with one goal - increasing the liquidity of its securities. Typically, a company is listed in order on several sites within one state. The main advantage of this is a significant increase in the liquidity of the issuer's securities.
Cross-listing – cross-listing. Passing through the listing procedure simultaneously on several stock exchanges, usually from different countries, within the framework of an agreement concluded between them (the exchanges). Allows an issuer whose securities have passed the listing procedure on one exchange to undergo the listing procedure on other trading platforms in a simplified version, which allows reducing the time period and, possibly, the financial costs of the issuer. Simultaneous registration on different sites in different countries. An agreement is concluded between these exchanges, within the framework of which getting listed on one of them significantly simplifies a similar procedure on the other. The main advantage is a significant reduction in costs and time.

The main purpose of listing is to enter the company's stock exchange.

Among other things, shares whose companies are traded on reputable stock exchanges have the opportunity to receive a rating among serious investment funds, and this, excuse me, in turn, affects the attractiveness of the organization and, as a result, even greater growth of companies or corporations.

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What does listing mean: goals and objectives

Listing is a process in which shares of an issuer listed on a particular platform are added to the list of instruments of an exchange.

After this, the specified securities become available for trading.

Listing of securities is carried out only according to certain rules, including assessment of:

total profit of assets;
net profit (assessment is carried out over several years);
volume of issued bonds.

This is interesting! A complex listing procedure does not allow some securities to participate, so such securities are withdrawn from the exchange.

Going through the listing procedure solves the following problems: increasing capital through the investment of raised funds, entering world stock exchanges, the company’s appearance in ratings, increasing confidence in the company, and the opportunity to quickly sell securities at a price that will be as close as possible to the market price.

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Here’s the thing, when stocks or bonds become reputable for investors, their buying and selling activity also increases, and here the chain closes at the most interesting stage. Shares are trading more actively, the liquidity of the asset is growing, attracting even more investors. As a result, an organization that has put its assets into circulation on the stock exchange is thriving financially. This is the benefit that the listing process brings to the issuer company. What is meant here is that without a listing, this company might not have been able to grow financially in the over-the-counter securities markets.

Listing and delisting procedure in trade

It happens that goods end up on the blacklist, that is, they undergo a reverse procedure, which is called “delisting”: goods that do not pass the required listing “casting” leave the shelves of the trading network, and securities are removed from trading on the stock exchange.

Sometimes products that have passed the “casting” but have not found their consumer leave the listing; they are also referred to as “products with a low marketing indicator” - when the consumer does not develop a loyal attitude towards the product, which leads to a decrease in demand and a drop in sales. A competing brand may take the place of outsider goods on the list of suppliers.

There are also lucky ones who immediately get on the list of suppliers, bypassing the listing procedure - these include trademarks and products that have a high rating, that is, they are top sellers and popular among consumers.

The listing procedure concerns new products that are just getting ready to take their place in retail chains and shopping carts.

Requirements for suppliers

The supplier must comply with listing requirements if it wants its products and brands to be represented on retail shelves. The main trading listing requirements include:

The supplier provides a certain quantity of goods for free. Usually the retailer sets this condition to a large distributor who is directly interested in stimulating sales of his product and is ready to offer his own plan for conducting marketing campaigns;
The supplier pays for the “entry” of his goods into the distribution network. Retailers explain the need for such a “contribution” by saying that they ensure that the product reaches store shelves with marketing support (this includes, for example, favorable display of goods, placement of information about the product in the store’s printed materials – flyers, booklets, posters, etc.);
The supplier organizes a one-time marketing campaign at its own expense and offers a system of bonuses or discounts as part of the promotion, and conducts promotional events. For example, a “two for the price of one” promotion. Such a marketing move attracts a potential buyer to a new product and ensures a good level of sales;
The supplier offers a loyalty program among its sales staff. As part of this program, retail chain personnel have special conditions for purchasing goods for a guaranteed service - maintaining the assortment, displaying goods, etc.;
The supplier provides special retail equipment (promotional cabinets, racks, refrigerators) for certain product categories.

A supplier is not always required to meet all requirements in order to successfully complete the listing process and be included in the list of suppliers. Usually it is enough to match two or three listing points.

What does the listing process provide to investors?

Of course, first of all, this is reliability! The investor, being confident that he is capitalizing his own, or the funds entrusted to him, into the assets of organizations that have passed a “rigorous” selection before having the right to list their shares on a consistently profitable securities market. That is, investors, even on a subconscious level, are confident that they are investing in “filtered” companies before being included in the quotation lists.

Probably, few people know, but participants trading on the Moscow Exchange have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the activities of the company whose securities they own over the past three years. Such transparency also affects the status and reputation of both the exchange platform itself and the issuer company.

What stages does the listing procedure contain?

The listing procedure (for the first and second levels) should include the following steps:

preliminary;
expertise;
listing agreement;
listing support;
delisting (or delisting).

At the preliminary stage, the exchange develops requirements, which it then presents to the issuer and its securities. In accordance with the Temporary Regulations, requirements are established for the first and second levels of listing. Some of the requirements are common to the two levels, but some of the requirements are different.

Verdict on the benefits of listing

Thanks to such a listing system, all participants in the trading and financial sector remain happy with their positions. For the management of the exchange, this is additional income in the form of commissions. For issuing companies, this is an excellent and optimal way to attract additional investments and capital investments. For investors, this is confidence and a guarantor in the safety and reliability of their investments. In general, the listing has the authority to act as a guarantor for all participants in the trading and financial industry, as well as to act as strictly regulating rules represented by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

This is where we will probably end this topic. But before I say goodbye, I will ask you to do something, ask yourself a question; How difficult was it to master this topic? I’m as sure as two fingers, but now you have grown in your understanding of self-development. If we continue like this, I’m afraid that soon the Russian Federation will become the most erudite and financially savvy power! Okay, stop dreaming, bye everyone and see you again!

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Quotation lists and levels

It is incorrect to assume that issuers that have overcome listing have become equivalent to each other. For example, the shares of a huge oil company cannot be compared in weight with the securities of the industrial mining and metallurgical holding company Mechel PJSC. It is a fact.

At the same time, no one will argue that Mechel is a weak or unattractive issuer for investment. Otherwise the company would not have been listed. However, the significance of the named stocks varies significantly.

The leaders of the Moscow Exchange have made life easier for investors. For this purpose, 3 levels of listing have been created, as already mentioned above. Each of them has its own quotation list.

The first level of the quotation list includes the largest issuers whose shares are traded on the MICEX. These are the so-called blue chips or first-tier companies. Among them are Sberbank, Novatek, Gazprom, MMC Norilsk Nickel, LUKOIL, Rosneft, Magnit and others.

The second level of the quotation list includes second-tier companies that do not meet the requirements for blue chips. Among them are Rosseti, RusHydro, Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, Megafon, Polyus and others.

The third and fourth echelon companies are included in the third level of the quotation list. Among them are Ashinsky MZ, OGK-2, Unipro, Bashneft, Detsky Mir, Belon, AvtoVAZ, Quadra, EnergiaRKK, Mostotrest, United Wagon Company and many others.

As the level decreases, liquidity drops significantly. Simply put, fewer investors are involved in these companies' stocks. The trade turnover for such chips is small. You should invest in them exclusively for the long term. Such securities are not suitable for intraday or even medium-term trading.

What are the benefits for investors?

Buying shares is a popular type of investment. Almost anyone with any income level can become a shareholder. The cost of one security is not so high even for very well-known companies.

Example, share price of well-known companies (as of March 25, 2019):

McDonald's (Nyse exchange) – 185 USD;

Apple (Nasdaq) – 188 USD;

Boeing (Nyse exchange) – 370 USD;

Gazprom (Moscow Stock Exchange) – 152 RUB (about 2.4 dollars);

BMW (ETR) – 69 EUR;

Sony (Tokyo Stock Exchange) – 4,630 JPY (about 42 US dollars);

Samsung Electronics (Korea Exchange) – 45,500 KRW (about 40 US dollars).

Practice shows that shares of successful companies that have been operating on the market for a long time only increase in price over time. They are subject to fluctuations in the short term, but in the long term they often give profit.

For some investors, buying shares is an investment for the long term, a replacement for a bank deposit or pension account. For others, it is important to make a profit in the short term from exchange rate fluctuations. Whatever option the investor chooses, in order to invest their savings with maximum reliability, a certain level of knowledge and the right choice of the company through which the transaction will be carried out are required.

The most important thing that listing gives investors is the confidence that the reliability of the company chosen for investment has been verified by professionals.

Implementation of listings on any type of commercial website

Author: Alexandra Veselovskaya

, SEO specialist at the digital agency Original Works

The idea of the need to place listings on the pages of an online store, as one of the fundamental factors for its successful ranking in search results, is not new and does not represent a sensational discovery. However, as practice shows, this approach is also quite applicable to commercial resources of other formats, such as sites with services, manufacturers’ sites, as well as commercial resources that sell products, but do not position themselves as online stores. Further in the article, we will try to understand the advantages of placing listings on any type of site, discuss when and how best to place them, and how their presence can affect the growth of the site’s position in the search results.

What is a listing?

In order to talk about the benefits of listings, it is necessary to understand what they are and what distinguishes them from any other type of content on a commercial site.

A listing is a block display of products, usually found on the websites of typical online stores.

Example:

The main elements of the listing are:

— product cards leading to individual product pages with unique characteristics;

— text names of products on the listing, also called text anchors (text part of the link) of products;

— images of goods;

— prices for goods indicating the currency (this can be either an exact price or a price marked “from”);

— commercial buttons that make it possible to order or purchase goods.

Listings may also include additional elements, such as: text characteristics, special offers and promotions, information about delivery and payment, quantity of goods and their availability, short descriptions, quick views and other elements. You can read more about the correct design of listings and improving their conversion properties in our previously published article: Optimizing listings for online stores: A complete guide

Example of a product card in a listing:

What are the advantages of listing over other types of content?

Knowing about the main components of a listing, we suggest speculating about the benefits that this format of presenting goods brings to a commercial resource during SEO promotion.

Placing listings on the pages of a commercial website allows search engines to more accurately determine the type of content.
Since a listing is precisely a commercial component, its presence makes it clear to search engines that this is not an information page, but a section that primarily meets commercial intent (user needs).
As a result:
promoted pages better respond to commercial intent, and therefore rank higher for commercial queries.

Also, this type of content helps search engines evaluate the full range of products presented in the section and on the website.
The absence of listings and the placement, for example, of tables with product models, will also be regarded by the search robot as the presence of a certain assortment.
However, such a product presentation will be less informative than a listing, and therefore less effective in achieving the best positions for frequent commercial requests. As a result:
the presentation of the available assortment is improved, which is also highly appreciated by search engines and increases the site’s chances of good ranking.

Another advantage of a listing is the increased relevance for key queries of the page on which it is located.
When creating a listing, a text anchor is written for each product card.
It is recommended to include the most frequent key queries for this category in the anchors of the cards. This approach allows search engines to more clearly determine what kind of assortment is placed on the page, how well it corresponds to its topic, and also increases the total number of key occurrences. As a result,
such functionality on a page increases its relevance to key queries and, as a result, improves its ranking for them.

Also, such a format for presenting goods provides the necessary information content when placing the assortment.
In the listing, you can indicate the cost of the product, model and manufacturer, place an image, brief characteristics and the opportunity to purchase the product.
Thus, for search engines, the page with the assortment becomes more informative and better meets user requests. As a result:
the information content of categories with listings increases, which also has a positive effect on the evaluation of the resource by search engines.

In addition, the implementation of listings on the site significantly increases the number of pages.
Since listing involves the massive creation of separate pages for each product card, their implementation increases the number of relevant resource pages.
As a result:
an increase in the total number of pages on a site helps to improve its quality and competitiveness, thanks to which the resource can compete for a place in the top for more frequent queries. In addition, the number of entry points to the site increases, which contributes to traffic growth.

Listing also improves the internal linking of site pages and increases the static and anchor link weight of the section where it is located.
Internal linking is a system of links connecting website pages to each other.
Each product page in the listing links to the parent section and passes it static and anchor link juice through breadcrumbs (the more unique links that link to a page, the more link juice it has and the better it ranks). Due to links from cards, the final link weight of the section increases, and the list of text anchors linking to it also expands. This has a positive effect on the ranking of the parent section. In addition, additional elements of competent internal linking can be added to product cards, such as similar or related products, which in turn will increase the SPM of individual cards. As a result:
competent construction of internal linking increases the SPM of priority category pages and expands their anchor list, which also affects the site’s position in the search results.

It is also worth mentioning that the presence of a product showcase makes navigation through the section more convenient.
The listing itself looks structured and clear.
In addition, its presence allows you to implement additional functionality on the site, such as filters, sorting and tagging blocks. All this simplifies the user’s interaction with the assortment presented on the site and can indirectly influence both behavioral and conversion indicators of the resource. As a result:
thanks to listings, the usability of the site is improved, navigation through categories is simplified, which in turn improves their behavioral and conversion factors. Recently, these factors have been given increasing importance in rankings.

Of course, this method of presenting goods has its drawbacks, and the main one is the labor costs of implementation. If on platforms such as Bitrix or WordPress, implementation most likely will not take much time, then on CMSs that are not designed for such functionality, development may require a significant amount of time. However, with proper implementation and high-quality design of listings, the results will not take long to arrive.

How to implement listing on any type of site

To create a listing, you must first determine the range of goods or services on the basis of which it will be sold. And if with online stores this task, as a rule, does not raise any questions, then with other types of commercial sites sometimes you have to make efforts to solve it.

Let's determine what content can be presented as a listing on different types of sites.

Listings on online shopping sites

Classic story. As a rule, listings are generated automatically when the site is implemented on a suitable CMS. A list of products with all the necessary characteristics is loaded from the 1C program, or imported using specialized scripts, or entered manually. In this article we will not dwell on this topic in detail, since it is very extensive and has already been discussed by many authors.

Listings on manufacturers' websites

When implementing listings on the websites of manufacturing companies, you can often encounter difficulties in preparing a specific list of assortments, indicating clear characteristics for each item, especially prices. This is due to the fact that the manufacturer’s products may be unique for each client and produced for specific purposes, which makes indicating a clear cost problematic.

In such cases, there are several options for solving the problem:

Creation of “standard solutions” for manufactured products, with certain unique characteristics for each solution.

1 unique standard solution = 1 listing product card

For them, characteristics that are frequently requested by the company’s clients or widely applicable options can be used. Also, “standard solutions” can be formed based on randomly selected product parameters. At the same time, it is critical to indicate the cost of each solution and its unique characteristics, both in the card and in the listing, and use a key query in the text anchor. If the cost of the product is difficult to determine, it is enough to indicate its minimum threshold by adding the postscript “from”.

Another option could be to implement a listing based on the company’s already completed projects. This method works great for construction-related websites. Completed projects are taken as the assortment for listing.

1 completed job = 1 listing item card

As a rule, prices for such projects have already been calculated, or they can be offered at the discretion of the customer. Unique characteristics and images are also available.

Important to consider! When implementing such a listing, it is worth indicating in the parent section and in the product cards that the standard solutions presented are for informational purposes, and the manufacturer manufactures products to suit any parameters and tasks of the client. This way, the content will respond to any product requests.

An example of a listing on the manufacturer's website:

Listings on commercial sites that do not position themselves as online stores

Some commercial sites deliberately do not provide listings for fear of resemblance to online stores. As a rule, the products of such sites have a narrow focus or are designed for a narrow audience, which is why the option of mass sales is not suitable for them. The assortment on such sites is presented for informational purposes only, in the format of tables or individual information articles.

Such sites have great potential for growth, but insufficiently effective presentation of the assortment reduces the chances.

It is possible to solve this problem:

Product cards for listing are sold on the basis of the assortment indicated in the tables and price lists, or if there is a separate article for each product, cards in the listings are created based on them. At the same time, each product card in the listing must indicate the price; the indication “from” is allowed. The wording “Order” or “Calculate” can be used as a commercial button; such a button can lead to a modal call back form. Thanks to this method of filling out an application, the customer will be able to regulate demand and avoid the mass of non-priority orders.

An example of implementing listings from tables:

Listings on service sites

Both individual services and their more specialized varieties can be used as content for listing on service websites. The information for one product card in the listing is the name of the service, its brief unique description and cost. In this case, the listing can simultaneously act as a block with teasers for child subsections of one service.

1 service = 1 product card

An example of implementing a listing on a service website:

When will having a listing really benefit you?

The easiest way to determine the need for listings on a website is to analyze competitors' websites in the same area.

If, according to the most frequent requests, the majority of competitors from the TOP 10 present their assortment in the format of listings, then their implementation is definitely necessary. At the same time, it is advisable to design them in the form in which they are most often found among competitors. You can also experiment and add your own improvements.
If in the top there are sites of competitors with content both in the format of listings and in other formats, most likely, competitors in the subject area have just begun to use a similar type of design, and gradually most sites will switch to it. If a resource without listings ranks well, this may mean that their presence is not yet critical. However, in the future there may come a time when, due to insufficiently effective presentation of the assortment, the site begins to lose its position in favor of competitors with listings. It’s worth thinking about implementing this type of content in advance.
If there are no sites with listings in the top, most likely this functionality is not a priority in the topic. However, it may well be that none of the competitors have yet thought of using such a format. In this case, we can advise you not to rush into the implementation of listings. However, if all the basic SEO work has already been carried out on the site’s pages, and the result is still not satisfactory, then you can experiment with the implementation of listings. Perhaps this is exactly what the site lacks, and it will become a pioneer among competitors in the topic.

Case of successful implementation of listings on the manufacturer’s website

As an example, let’s look at the implementation of listings on the website of one of the clients—a manufacturer of prefabricated structures.

Before their implementation, optimized texts were placed on the website pages; there were no prices for products, due to the complexity of calculating a fixed cost.

To implement listings, the client provided all the necessary information about the assortment in the form of standard solutions with unique characteristics, prices marked “from” and images.

An example of information provided by a client for one product card:

Based on this information, listings were generated and placed in subcategories and categories of the site.

Example of implemented listing:

Thus, on the main promoted pages of the site, content that met commercial, behavioral and conversion factors was implemented one-time and en masse. These improvements had a positive impact on the rankings and traffic of the site, as well as on its conversions.

Screenshot showing the growth of the site’s position after the implementation of listings:

Let's sum it up

Implementing listings on any type of commercial site will be more beneficial than not having them. This type of product presentation improves several important ranking factors for the pages on which it is placed, as well as for the entire site as a whole. In addition to influencing the growth of the site’s position and traffic, listings are also convenient for users, as they provide maximum information about products or services.

However, before you plunge headlong into the fascinating process of creating listings, it is worth assessing the priority of their implementation, conducting a competitor analysis to understand the importance of having listings in the subject of the site. It is likely that their creation will not be so critical, and it will be much more important, for example, to place high-quality optimized texts or a calculator.

In order not to waste time and effort, we advise you to approach the implementation of this functionality thoughtfully and thoroughly.

What additional information to read about listing on the world's largest stock exchanges

Conditions for listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Conditions for listing shares on the SSE - Shanghai Stock Exchange requirements for listing on the TSX - Toronto Stock Exchange Why do corporations need a listing on the NYSE? What does ]listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange[/anchor] give? NASDAQ: the No. 2 exchange in the world through the eyes of Masterforex-V traders How to get on the main listing of the London Stock Exchange?

Cryptocurrency listing

Listing is often discussed in the cryptocurrency environment. Here, digital coins or tokens tend to appear on the trading list of exchange platforms.

Cryptocurrency projects strive to get listed on popular exchanges

Requirements for listing on crypto exchanges vary. It is much more difficult to get to large well-known sites than to small ones. That’s why most projects start with small trading platforms.

Price issue

One of the main issues is cost . Little-known exchanges can list cryptocurrencies for free. Getting on the lists of well-known platforms can cost thousands, or even tens of thousands of dollars - they charge money for analyzing the coin before listing. Although there are exceptions.

Binance, for example, announced this fall that listing fees would be used to fund charitable causes. At the same time, there are no fixed prices - the developers themselves determine how much they want to pay for the listing. Poloniex management claims that it does not charge any money for listing.

At the beginning of the year, Business Insider journalists published an article according to which the minimum threshold for listing on crypto exchanges for ICO projects is $50 thousand, and in some cases can reach $1 million.

There were also cases when exchange management was caught taking bribes for including coins in the listing. An example is the Coinnest exchange - its operating and technical directors were paid about 890 thousand dollars for adding the S-coin cryptocurrency to the trading list.

How it works

In order for a token to be listed, most often on the selected site you need to submit an application and fill out a form. However, popular exchange coins can be listed on their own, without waiting for the project team to offer to do so. For example, every exchange must have Bitcoin (BTC), and, as a rule, Ethereum (ETH).

What questions are most often found in the questionnaire:

name and description of the coin;
launch date of the main network, as well as the platform itself;
Github link;
link to the project White Paper;
links to social networks;
whether mining is present in the network and whether there was pre-mining;
maximum coin issue, etc.

Exchanges often also hold competitions among their users - they vote for the proposed cryptocurrencies, and the winning coin is added to the quotation list.

At the end of summer 2021, Huobi Global launched a platform for automatic listing of cryptocurrencies. With its help, the exchange intends to speed up the process of adding tokens to the trading list and make it transparent.

Important nuances

The first thing exchanges look at is the value of the coin, its usefulness to the community. In second place is the security of the project, since if the crypto network is hacked, the exchange will also suffer. They are definitely interested in the professionalism, as well as the reputation of the team.

For example, at Bittrex there is a preliminary stage of consideration of the application and an in-depth one. If the company’s specialists consider at the preliminary stage that the coin is worthy of being listed on the exchange, a thorough study of its technical characteristics, innovative capabilities, and compliance with the requirements of the platform begins.

Exchanges try not to add coins that can be recognized as securities . For example, Poloniex immediately invites developers to familiarize themselves with the Howey test to determine whether a token meets these criteria or not.

An exception among large platforms is the Coinbase exchange, which has received appropriate regulatory approval and can officially operate with tokens that have the properties of securities.

Interestingly, if an asset is contrary to the laws of a particular country, it may not be available to users from certain jurisdictions.

"Exchange Effect"

After adding popular crypto exchanges to the listings, the cost of coins, as a rule, increases sharply - by an average of 25-30%. This pattern has even been called the “exchange effect.” This happens due to the fact that more users learn about the coin, it becomes recognizable, and increases demand for it. However, most often this rise is short-lived and soon the value begins to decline.

There are also situations when the price of tokens, on the contrary, falls after being included in the trading lists of exchanges. This happens most often when the project is listed immediately after the ICO, and investors who invested during the token sale strive to quickly earn extra money on the coin by actively dumping it on the exchange.

Crypto coins are delisted for a number of reasons:

low interest from traders;
changes in legislation;
hacking the blockchain of a crypto network;
refusal of developers to further support the coin;
user complaints.

Tokens, as a rule, are not deleted immediately - the exchange gives traders several weeks to close positions and withdraw funds to their own wallets.

What is delisting and why is it needed?

Verification of the issuer of shares does not end with inclusion in the stock exchange listing. Periodically, the company must provide important information about its financial and business activities. Typically, reports are provided quarterly and annually (more comprehensive). If the company fails the report or does not provide it, it will face delisting - exclusion of shares from the list of shares traded on the stock exchange. Companies also undergo the delisting procedure of their own free will when they wish to cease being public.

An example is the DELL company, which in 2013, after going through the delisting procedure, became a private company , and the company’s founder, Milek Dell, bought the company’s shares from its shareholders for $24 billion. In five years, under the full control of the company's founder, DELL was reorganized from a simple computer manufacturer to an IT conglomerate, and the share price (the maximum value of $57 occurred at the dawn of the dot-coms in 2000) rose from $13.73 before delisting to $68.7 in April 2019.

An important point: the concept of delisting in Russia differs from the international one.

— In Russia, delisting refers to the exclusion of shares from the quotation list of a stock exchange. At the same time, the company can remain a public joint stock company, and its securities can be traded on the stock exchange, only as shares permitted for sale without listing.

— International business turnover refers to the complete exclusion of shares from trading on the stock exchange as listing.

Take this point into account if you want to list on the Moscow Exchange.