Bourse : Younès Benjelloun (CFG Bank) plaide pour une accélération de la dynamique des IPO

Younès Benjelloun, the Managing Director of CFG Bank, recently provided a comprehensive historical and strategic analysis of the Casablanca Stock Exchange, contextualizing the current market environment through its various evolutionary cycles. He identified several defining "waves" that have shaped the Moroccan capital market, ranging from the post-Marocanization era to the pivotal privatization phase of the mid-1990s and the private-sector surge of the mid-2000s. Between 2006 and 2008, the exchange experienced a peak in listing velocity that stands in stark contrast to the current climate. According to Benjelloun, the market’s current inability to sustain a cadence of ten initial public offerings annually represents a significant structural bottleneck, hindering the exchange’s ambition to broaden its issuer base and achieve the institutional depth required for global competitiveness. The quantitative trajectory of the exchange further highlights the challenges of market maturity. After starting the 1990s with approximately 75 listed entities, the market underwent a sharp contraction following the 1993 reforms, with the number of constituents dropping to a nadir of 45. While a gradual reconstruction has since brought the total to nearly 80 companies, the focus has shifted toward the quality and impact of capital raises. Over the past five to six years, ten IPOs have generated approximately 5 billion dirhams in fresh capital at the time of listing. When accounting for subsequent secondary market raises by these same firms, the total equity injected reaches 10 billion dirhams. Benjelloun emphasized that while he maintains no ideological objection to IPOs conducted via the sale of existing shares, the primordial function of the stock exchange must remain the direct financing of corporate expansion through capital increases. In addressing the frequent comparisons between stock market volumes and bank credit, Benjelloun dismissed such parallels as fundamentally flawed. He asserted that equity and debt are not interchangeable commodities but rather distinct financial instruments with different strategic implications. Equity serves as a balance sheet catalyst; by reinforcing a company’s capital base, it enhances its solvency and capacity to access broader debt markets. This "multiplier effect" positions the stock market not as a rival to the banking sector, but as an essential engine for sustainable corporate leverage. However, the practical realization of this potential is often obstructed by rigid seasonal windows. The tendency for operations to cluster in early summer and late autumn creates a mechanical limitation on the number of transactions the market can absorb in a given year, forcing ready companies to wait for specific calendar alignments. Furthermore, Benjelloun signaled a pressing need for regulatory modernization, questioning the relevance of a legal framework that has remained largely unchanged for thirty years. He advocated for a more sophisticated, tiered approach to market oversight, specifically proposing a "fast-track" mechanism for secondary offerings. He argued that established issuers, who are already subject to rigorous public disclosure requirements, should not be burdened by the same procedural weight as first-time market entrants. Reducing this administrative friction is seen as essential for improving market fluidity. Ultimately, Benjelloun suggested that the current constraints are more a product of the broader financial ecosystem than a failure of technical infrastructure. Recalling the early 1990s, when international investors were first welcomed despite a lack of digital tools, he noted that while technology must evolve to handle volume spikes, the market's true potential lies in aligning its legal and operational frameworks with modern financial realities.