JSX gets go ahead on new listing
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)