Parallel market starts handling odd-lot trading

Parallel market starts handling odd-lot trading

JAKARTA (JP): PT Bursa Paralel Indonesia, the company managing the over-the-counter stock market here, is scheduled today to start trading odd lots of shares which are listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX).

PT Bursa Paralel Indonesia's (BPI) president, Tito Sulistio, said Saturday that the odd-lot trading, to be introduced as part of the implementation of the BPI-JSX cooperation agreement signed last month, is expected to attract more small-scale investors to the over-the-counter market.

"The handling of the odd-lot trading will not only help small- scale investors but also share issuers," he said.

Investors on the JSX, with shares of less than 500, face difficulties in trading their stocks as most transactions are carried out in a trading unit of 500 stocks.

The stock market has, in fact, provided an odd-lot trading board for them but most brokerage companies are reluctant to handle them due to the insignificant number.

Tito said that the handling of the JSX-listed odd-lot share trading will be no problem to BPI, where transactions are carried out in a trading unit of 100 shares.

"It will, instead, help improve the liquidity of JSX-listed shares sold in units of less than 500," he said.

Tito said that the transactions of odd lot shares at BPI will also be linked to the computer system of the Stock Clearing and Settlement Agency, which handles both the clearing and delivering of shares.(hen)