JSX gets go ahead on new listing
JAKARTA (JP): The Capital Market Supervisory Agency (Bapepam) sees no problem for the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) to trade start-up companies.
Bapepam chairman Herwidayatmo said the agency had yet to decide whether the JSX could go ahead with its new listing regulation but he added that he personally had no objection to the plan.
"I hope my office can come up with the approval (on the new regulation) promptly so that it can be implemented before the second week of June," he told The Jakarta Post on the weekend.
The JSX management is proposing a change in the listing requirement to allow new startups to list their shares on the exchange.
Under the new regulation, however, the shares of the newly established companies, or others with no profit track records, will be traded on a different board.
Herwidayatmo said the change in the listing regulations was proposed by the JSX authority last week as a response to the increasing demand from newly established Internet companies.
He said he supported the idea but warned that investors should be aware of the nature of the companies and the risk in investing in such companies.
Nevertheless, the leeway to be given to newly set up companies through the new regulation is expected to help accelerate the recovery of business activities in the country, he added.
He acknowledged that many newly set up companies saw the existing listing regulations as a barrier to business progress because they had to wait for at least two years before they could list on the more popular and liquid JSX market.
The newly set up companies mostly opted to delay their listing plans or look for a chance to list on overseas stock markets rather than go to the other local stock market, the Surabaya Stock Exchange (SSX), which already allows new companies to list there, he said.
SSX is somehow seen by many companies as less promising to help lead them through a liquid market, Herwidayatmo said.
It is expected that the implementation of the new listing regulations will receive a warm welcome especially from the local newly established Internet-based companies, most of which have announced their plans for listing on local or overseas stock markets to raise more funds to finance expansion.
Among the Internet startup companies that have confirmed their plans for listing this year are news portals Astaga!com and Satunet, as well as Internet software developer Myohdotcom and general portals Indonesia Net Exchange and Kopitime.com. (cst)