The co-founders of One United Properties were present at the ZF Capital Market Summit 2023 event to discuss topics such as the role of the Stock Exchange in the Romanian economy, steps to attract investors and what are the plans of the listed companies.
Victor Căpitanu stated that in one year and eight months since the listing of One United Properties on the Bucharest Stock Exchange in July 2021, the number of investors increased from 3,000 shareholders at the beginning to 6,500 shareholders today. He also pointed out that unfortunately international bank clients, especially from Europe, cannot buy shares in a Romanian company at the moment, which represents both an impediment to the expansion of the investor range and an important opportunity, as the role of the Stock Exchange to is actively get involved in this direction:
"It is a major problem. I constantly have foreign investors who want to invest in One and I have to make them go through a complicated procedure, to open an account with one of the local brokers, which usually takes from a few days to weeks. In order to increase the number of investors, the Stock Exchange must get involved and sign contracts with large European banks so that their clients have access to Romanian shares. That's an opportunity, in a way, because once that's done, it's going to trigger an explosion in the number of stock market investors. It's a critical step."
In his turn, Andrei Diaconescu pointed out that there should be a joint effort of politicians, authorities, the Stock Exchange, and brokers to develop the capital market, to attract as many players as possible, whether they are public or private companies.
"As an authority, it is mandatory to list performing companies, and as a broker and as an investment banker, it seems absolutely normal to me to look for assets, companies that could be listed and to convince them."
