The Cayman Islands Stock Exchange: Listing and Fundraising Opportunities for Asia-Based Issuers and Fund Managers

Introducing the CSX

The Cayman Islands Stock Exchange (“CSX”), established in 1996, has grown into one of the leading offshore stock exchanges globally. At the end of 2025, the CSX had more than 2,750 active listings, a market capitalisation of approximately US$838 billion and over 8,960 securities admitted to its Daily Official List since inception. The CSX also enjoys significant international recognition, including designation as a “Recognised Stock Exchange” by HM Revenue & Customs in the United Kingdom, affiliate membership of IOSCO and the World Federation of Exchanges, and, uniquely among offshore exchanges, membership in the Intermarket Surveillance Group.

The CSX offers listing facilities for equities, investment funds, ETFs and a wide range of specialist debt securities, including asset-backed securities, credit-linked securities, insurance-linked securities and loan participation notes. Most securities listed on the exchange are bonds issued by special purpose vehicles (SPVs), with listings commonly sought to meet regulatory or investment eligibility requirements, benefit from the UK Quoted Eurobond exemption, or leverage the CSX’s position outside the EU regulatory framework. Reflecting continued market demand, the CSX admitted 492 new securities in 2025, its fourth-highest annual total on record. This included significant activity in securitisation bonds and collateralised loan obligations (CLOs).

A Growing Trend from Asia

A significant trend highlighted in the CSX’s 2025 Annual Report is the growing interest among investment funds managed by Chinese investment managers in obtaining a CSX listing. This trend first emerged in 2023 and continues to gain momentum.

Funds with Chinese investment managers are increasingly seeking a CSX listing to enhance transparency and facilitate compliance with investment and regulatory requirements applicable to Chinese institutional investors. In particular, a CSX listing may assist in meeting certain criteria prescribed by the China Securities Regulatory Commission and other regulatory bodies. More broadly, China-based non-bank financial institutions, including trust companies, asset management companies, and securities firms, often operate within regulatory frameworks that favour transactions involving listed products and entities. Listing financial products on the CSX offers an efficient and cost-effective route to satisfying these regulatory expectations.

A listing on a recognised exchange such as the CSX can enhance a product’s visibility, profile and credibility among investors, counterparties and regulators and may assist in meeting investment criteria that favour listed securities.

Two Main Pathways

The CSX offers two principal listing channels that are particularly relevant to Asia-based clients in the structured finance and investment funds space:

Specialist Debt Securities (Chapter 8) – suited for structured notes, asset-backed securities, CLOs and credit-linked products issued through SPVs. The listing document may take the form of an annotated checklist addressing the applicable CSX listing requirements, rather than a full prospectus, making it one of the most efficient and cost-effective routes to list.

Investment Funds (Chapter 9) – suited for both open-ended and closed-ended investment funds. The fund’s existing prospectus or offering document can generally serve as the listing document, with supplementary disclosure added as necessary. The CSX does not impose minimum subscription thresholds, minimum asset requirements or prescriptive investment policy restrictions, offering considerable flexibility for fund managers seeking a recognised listing venue.

Why the CSX?

For Asia-based issuers, the CSX offers a number of compelling advantages across both pathways:

• Speed. A CSX listing can typically be completed within three to five weeks of the initial submission. The CSX provides guaranteed turnaround times of five business days for the first drafts and three business days for subsequent submissions. For specialist debt securities listings, the CSX also offers an expedited 48-hour review service for time-sensitive transactions.
• Cost-effectiveness. The CSX’s listing fees are competitive, with initial listing fees starting at US$2,500 for specialist debt securities (plus an annual fee of US$3,500) and US$5,000 for investment funds (plus an annual fee of US$2,500).
• Flexibility. As the CSX operates outside the EU regulatory framework, it is not bound by the EU Prospectus Regulation, Transparency Directive and Market Abuse Regulation. This enables a pragmatic and commercially focused approach to disclosure and the exchange may waive or modify requirements where strict compliance may not be appropriate for a particular transaction.
• ·Confidentiality. For specialist debt securities listings, listing documents are not published on the CSX website or otherwise made publicly available electronically – documents are generally available only for physical inspection at the CSX’s offices in the Cayman Islands. This can be a significant benefit for issuers seeking to limit public disclosure of transaction details.
• Light-touch ongoing obligations. Continuing compliance requirements are generally straightforward and proportionate. For specialist debt securities, most ongoing obligations can be satisfied through written notifications to the CSX and waivers may be granted where disclosure would be unduly prejudicial to the issuer’s interests. For investment funds, ongoing obligations include periodic NAV reporting and annual audited financial statements but remain considerably less onerous than those imposed by many onshore exchanges.
• Bloomberg visibility. Listed securities are assigned Bloomberg tickers and captured on the CSX’s dedicated Bloomberg pages, providing readily accessible evidence of “listed” status and enhancing visibility for regulators, investors and counterparties.

How We Can Help

The Maples Group is the leading legal adviser on CSX listings. In 2025, our Cayman Islands listings team acted on approximately 48% of all CSX listings, representing nearly half of the market, including around 45% of all CLOs listed on the exchange. As a registered listing agent with the CSX, we provide a fully integrated service covering every stage of the listing process, from preparing listing documentation and waiver applications to managing regulatory engagement with the CSX and coordinating admission to listing.

As CSX listings continue to gain traction among Asia-based issuers, fund managers and financial institutions, the Maples Group is well-positioned to support clients across the region. Our global listings practice spans the Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Ireland, Jersey, London and Luxembourg.

Notably, our Hong Kong team serves as a dedicated point of contact for clients across Asia, working seamlessly with our Cayman Islands listings team to provide responsive, time-zone-aligned and fully integrated support. This combination of local accessibility and deep offshore expertise enables us to deliver an efficient and streamlined listing experience for our Asia-based clients.