The World Federation of Exchanges published an open letter urging policymakers, regulators and market participants to prioritise revitalising public markets, citing WFE data showing global initial public offerings at their lowest level in five years. It plans to launch a multi-year campaign to investigate and address structural drivers of declining public listings and trading activity, starting with an urgent focus on the IPO drought. The letter links the downturn to the growth of private capital and alternative asset classes such as cryptocurrencies, alongside declining liquidity and valuations, which has contributed to companies staying private longer or bypassing public markets. Immediate areas for exploration include aligning the public and private market ecosystem, exploring regulatory, fiscal and procedural incentives for IPOs, reducing market fragmentation to support secondary market strength, promoting a calibrated risk and reward culture supported by literacy programmes, independent research, derivatives, central clearing and high-quality exchange data, and developing initiatives to reinforce trust in public markets as transparent venues for investment and capital formation. The WFE highlighted that the decline is especially stark in EMEA and Asia-Pacific relative to the Americas and invited exchanges, policymakers, regulators, asset managers and issuers to join the effort.
World Federation of Exchanges 2025-07-17
World Federation of Exchanges launches multi-year campaign to tackle global IPO drought and revitalise public markets
The World Federation of Exchanges has called on policymakers, regulators, and market participants to focus on revitalizing public markets, as global initial public offerings have hit a five-year low. It plans a multi-year campaign to address structural issues, including aligning public and private markets, exploring incentives for IPOs, and reducing market fragmentation, with a particular emphasis on EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions.