NYSE expects more RI companies on exchange
NYSE expects more RI companies on exchange
JAKARTA (JP): President, and chairman-elect of the New York Stock Exchange, Richard A. Grasso, expects more of Indonesia's world-class companies to follow the successful debut of PT Indosat on the New York Stock Exchange.
Grasso, on a business trip to Indonesia, said yesterday that around 25 Indonesian world-class companies are qualified for listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the largest stock exchange in the world.
"We are anxious to help them raise capital and increase their visibility in the United States. In doing so, U.S. investors will gain a better understanding of the Indonesian economy and its potential," he said.
He said the interest of U.S. investors to invest in Indonesian securities is growing, following the successful debut of Indosat, which listed its shares on the NYSE late last year.
Grasso, who is leading a joint delegation of the NYSE and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, said the planned listing of the state-owned PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (PT Telkom) on the NYSE by the end of this year could also receive a similar response.
The delegation's members, which also includes the commission's chairman Arthur Levitt, paid a courtesy call on Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad, officials of the Capital Market Supervisory Agency and the Jakarta Stock Exchange during their two-day trip, which is part of their Asian tour including Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan.
The delegation also held a meeting with Indonesian executives, explaining the benefit of listing on the NYSE and the growing interest of U.S. investors to invest in non-U.S. securities.
Levitt said that the commission is ready to help Indonesian companies, as well as those from other Asian countries, to get listed on the U.S. bourses.
"Non-U.S. companies, due to the difference in legal and accounting standards, are allowed to submit a semi annual report to the commission, instead of a quarterly report," he said of the facility provided to non-U.S. companies.
The NYSE, with a total market capitalization of about US$4.9 trillion, is the fastest-growing in terms of globalization, having doubled the number of non-U.S. listed companies in the last five years to more than 200.
Non-U.S. companies raised $9 billion in equity capital in the U.S. markets in 1994. More than 75 percent of that amount was raised by those listed on the NYSE.
Grasso said that 52 non-U.S. companies, including Indonesia's Indosat, joined the NYSE last year, bringing the total number of non-U.S. listings to 204, while the number of Asian companies, excluding the Japanese firms, is about 30 at present.
Grasso, who will take over the NYSE leadership in June, said going global was the only way for the U.S. capital market to grow faster because some of the 80 percent, of the 2,800 U.S. companies that qualify, are already listed on the bourse. The remaining 20 percent would be able to increase the NYSE's market capitalization by only nine percent. (hen)