18 Issuers Delisted from IDX: Rights and Risks for Retail Investors Holding Their Shares

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Shares of 18 issuers set to be delisted by the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) could become difficult to sell and even illiquid after exiting bourse trading. This situation threatens retail investors with being “locked in” without certainty of an exit. Director of Reliance Sekuritas Indonesia, Reza Priyambada, noted that even after delisting, investors’ ownership of the issuers’ shares remains intact. Investors still hold rights to dividends if the company records profits and can continue to attend General Meetings of Shareholders (GMS). However, post-delisting, shares are no longer traded on the market, so to sell them, investors must find buyers directly off-exchange, even through notary mechanisms, making the process far more cumbersome. “It’s just that if market participants intend to sell these shares later, it will be very difficult because they must find buyers manually (via notaries),” he explained. According to him, this condition requires serious attention from bourse authorities as it relates to public trust in the nation’s capital market. In such a situation, the IDX is seen as able to take a more active role by involving bourse members or securities companies to facilitate the share conversion process for issuers to be delisted, while also mediating between securities companies, clients, and the issuers to ensure investors have clarity and access to manage their ownership. “These are the things that should be on the IDX’s radar because they involve public trust. The IDX could assist through bourse members or securities companies to facilitate the share conversion process for a number of issuers to be delisted, or conduct mediation between bourse members and their clients with the issuers to be delisted,” Reza elaborated. He assessed that the delisting of 18 issuers from the bourse indicates a forced delisting or compulsory removal. This situation tends to burden market participants, especially investors still holding shares, as available options become very limited, ultimately leaving them with no choice but to hold the shares. An exception would occur if there are provisions or instructions for the issuers to conduct a buyback, which could provide an exit route for investors to liquidate their holdings. Amid threats of lost liquidity and potential losses for retail investors, the bourse mandates issuers to perform share buybacks as a protective mechanism.