Determination of prerequisites for implementation of IPOs in the Czech capital market
In advanced markets, IPOs represent an opportunity to obtain the necessary capital for further company development. This form of financing is significant not only for the joint-stock company itself, for which an IPO is an alternative to debt financing, but also for further development of the capital market as a whole. That is to say, one of the fundamental functions of the capital market, the allocation function, is accomplished by means of IPOs. It follows from investigations of the situation in IPOs in the Czech Republic that financing company development through IPOs, which are linked with entrance into the capital market, has not become common practice in the Czech capital market. Comparing the present situation with the situation in international markets, it must be stated that the Czech capital market shows anomalies not only with regard to advanced capital markets such as those in the USA or Japan but also in reference to markets in Central and Eastern Europe. In the past, unfavourable conditions resulting from legislation and the institutional environment were considered the major cause of the long-term low numbers of initial public offerings in the Czech Republic. It follows from the results of the analysis of legislative barriers to carrying out IPOs that in recent years, a number of steps were taken to draw the Czech capital market nearer to the European standard, at least formally. Laws were passed that determine the scope and regulations for entrepreneurial activities of individual subjects, and an independent authority was set up that kept an eye on the transparency of the market and compliance with the given regulations; there are institutional and technical prerequisites available that facilitate trade in securities. Nowadays there are no more any legislative or general economic barriers, designated as significant obstacles for IPO realization in the Czech environment in the past. It depends mainly on approach of individual companies to this form of funding and on assessment of not only all minuses, but also all the pluses connected with IPO. The aim of the present paper is to determine all major prerequisites for successful implementation of an IPO in the Czech capital market.