Mercado de acesso: entre diagnósticos e propostas

Abstract

Small and medium-sized enterprises face several obstacles to obtain the necessary resources to carry out their projects and, often, have to settle their activities precociously, reducing job opportunities and the contribution to the country's economic growth and development. Given this context, since the early 2000s, regulators and self-regulators have evaluated mechanisms in favour of the access of smaller companies into the Brazilian capital market, aiming to materialize the constitutional guideline for the implementation of incentive mechanisms for small and medium-sized enterprises. The main initiative was the creation of Bovespa Mais, a segment of the Exchange that has milder admission requirements compared to other listing segments. Besides, were establish: offers exempt of the register, Bovespa Mais Level 2 (with few distinctions compared with the previous segment), new categories of investment funds (and revision of existing categories), and crowdfunding. However, the research demonstrated that normative developments aimed at the access of small and medium-sized companies did not remove the existing barriers and did not create an adequate scenario for fundraising by these enterprises. Through the investigation of other capital markets, it was found that these obstacles are related to (i) the contours of Act n°. 6.404/1976, which impose disproportionate costs on smaller companies; (ii) restrictions on securities' offers made by small and medium-sized enterprises; and (iii) limitations on the functioning of regulated securities markets. In addition to suggesting possible solutions to those obstacles, the research proposed the creation of an ecosystem favourable to small and medium-sized enterprises. Thus, the study also covered some important market players, such as investors, underwriters, analysts, and market makers. In the end, the research proposed, based on practices adopted in other countries, notably the United States of America and the United Kingdom, regulatory changes in favour of small and mediumsized enterprises. With the diagnoses and proposals presented, we sought to contribute to the development of the access market in the country.