South African gold mining giant in hot water with the JSE over 27-minute mistake

AngloGold Ashanti has been censured by the JSE for publishing an announcement on the local bourse 27 minutes after it was released to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

This represents a violation of the JSE’s Listings Requirements, which require companies with a dual listing to publish announcements on both exchanges simultaneously.

The JSE found that AngloGold Ashanti not only published its announcement on the local bourse 27 minutes after it was on the NYSE, but also 24 minutes after it was published on the miner’s website.

On Friday, 2 October, the JSE announced that, due to this breach of its Listings Requirements, it has decided to impose a public censure on AngloGold Ashanti.

This matter centres around an announcement AngloGold Ashanti made on 1 August 2025, when it published its second-quarter and half-year earnings release and dividend declaration.

Per the JSE’s Listings Requirements, companies with a secondary listing on the bourse that intend to release information on another exchange are required to ensure that such information is released simultaneously on SENS. 

This means the information must be published on SENS at the same time as, or no later than, its release on the other exchange.

The JSE found that AngloGold Ashanti disseminated its information as follows:

• 12:07 pm – Sent via Businesswire, a third-party news distribution service used to disseminate company announcements to the NYSE market
• 12:10 pm – On AngloGold Ashanti’s website
• 12:10 pm – Bloomberg disseminated the information after it became publicly available
• 12:22 pm – Through EDGAR at the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
• 12:34 pm – On the JSE SENS platform

“At all times during the sequence of events set out above, the JSE was open for trading,” the bourse explained. 

“However, the NYSE pre-opening and core trading sessions only opened at 12:30 pm and 3:30 pm, respectively, on 1 August 2025.”

“The JSE became aware, through an external party, that the information had been disseminated on SENS only after it had appeared on Bloomberg.”

Thus, the JSE’s investigation determined that compliance with the Listings Requirements was reasonably achievable, and that AngloGold Ashanti had failed to comply.

“The requirement for simultaneous disclosure on SENS and other exchanges is fundamental to the principles of fairness, transparency and market integrity underpinning the Listings Requirements,” the JSE said. 

“Timely and equivalent dissemination of information ensures that all investors, irrespective of their location or the exchange through which they access information, have equal and simultaneous access to such information.” 

The JSE explained that any delay in releasing information, or releasing it on one exchange before another, could create a risk that some investors receive the information before others. 

“This can lead to trading taking place on the basis of information that is not yet available to the wider market,” it said. “Such situations undermine confidence in the market and its fairness.” 

In AngloGold Ashanti’s case, the information distributed is considered price-sensitive and, therefore, capable of materially affecting the price of its securities.

For these reasons, the JSE decided to impose public censure on AngloGold Ashanti.