Jakarta bourse to acquire SSE next year
JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) plans to acquire the Surabaya Stock Exchange (SSE) early next year to create a single Indonesian stock market.
The JSX's chief commissioner, Marzuki Usman, said yesterday that the planned acquisition of the SSE will be put to a JSX shareholders' meeting in February next year.
Marzuki said the main aim of acquiring the SSE is to create an effective and efficient stock market in Indonesia that is able to compete with other stock exchanges in the world's emerging markets.
He said that listed and would-be-listed companies would benefit most from the acquisition of the SSE because the listing fee would be cheaper and their stocks could be traded at any stock trading terminal.
"After the acquisition, the SSE will become one of the JSX's trading terminals. I'm sure there will be no problem in trading activities because the JSX's remote trading facilities are expected to be ready by next year," Marzuki said.
Currently, stocks traded on the SSE are also traded on the JSX. Approximately 75 percent of the SSE's trading activities are carried out at its Jakarta terminals.
The SSE has gained a number of stock trading outlets in Jakarta through its acquisition of Indonesia's over-the-counter bourse, the Indonesian parallel market.
The parallel bourse was officially liquidated yesterday at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting here.
Small firms
Tito Sulistio, former president of the parallel bourse, raised questions yesterday about the fate of small- and medium-sized listed companies in the event that the SSE is acquired by the JSX.
Small and medium-sized enterprises had been accommodated by the parallel bourse before it was acquired by the SSE. After the acquisition, they were automatically listed on the SSE.
Commenting on the issue, Marzuki said the JSX could provide a special board for small and medium-sized enterprises, so that they would still have accesses to cheap funds through the stock market.
Tito contended that, even supposing that the JSX can accommodate small and medium-sized companies, the planned merger of the Jakarta and Surabaya stock exchanges is premature.
"Indonesia is so large in size. Can you guarantee that the planned remote trading activities will not fail? Why don't we wait until the SSE has consolidated itself and is ready to become part of the JSX?" Tito said.
Concurring with Tito, Sjahrir, former chief commissioner of the liquidated parallel bourse, said the planned acquisition of the SSE by the JSX should be a natural process, rather than a "top-down" process.
"I don't agree with doing everything using a top-down approach. The integration of the two exchanges should follow a natural process. It should be done only when there is already a real need to have a single market in Indonesia," Sjahrir said. (rid)