UI academic: Greater shareholding data transparency would boost investor confidence
Jakarta (ANTARA) – Buddi Wibowo, an academic at the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Indonesia (FEB UI), said greater disclosure of share ownership data could strengthen global investors’ confidence in Indonesia’s capital market.
“Market integrity is essential to attracting investors to an exchange,” Buddi said in a statement in Jakarta on Monday.
He said transparency about share ownership structures was a fundamental step towards strengthening transparency, improving the effectiveness of supervision and protecting investors.
The move could also help address concerns raised by global index provider Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) about governance and investment security in Indonesia’s capital market.
Buddi explained that disclosure of data would enable regulators and market participants to identify share ownership structures more clearly, including parties that might be influencing price movements improperly.
“Simply disclose the data, and potential share-price manipulators will face a clear obstacle, because their identities could be uncovered,” he said.
He said increased transparency should be accompanied by the application of free-float requirements and continuous monitoring to strengthen the integrity of trading.
Buddi said enforcement against capital-market violations remained necessary, but should be complemented by systemic improvements to prevent similar breaches from recurring.
He therefore stressed the importance of setting out clear stages for implementing reforms, so investors could assess progress in improving capital-market governance in a measurable way.
Meanwhile, the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) announced two new initiatives on Monday to strengthen transparency and market integrity, following a meeting with MSCI.
IDX President Director Jeffrey Hendrik said the first initiative was to add information on whether shareholders with a stake of at least one per cent were affiliated or unaffiliated.
The second involved plans to exclude all shares with a high shareholding concentration (HSC) from the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI).
The IDX said the effective dates for both initiatives would be announced at a later date.
Previously, the IDX, the Financial Services Authority (OJK) and the Indonesian Central Securities Depository (KSEI) had undertaken several reforms, including publishing data on shareholdings above one per cent and providing a breakdown of investor classifications.
In July 2026, the IDX also refined its methodology for identifying shares with high ownership concentration. The revision added 37 shares to the HSC category, bringing the total at the time to 51.
Beyond data disclosure, Buddi said certainty over the implementation of the IDX’s demutualisation was also important to strengthening governance and the appeal of the domestic capital market.
Demutualisation would allow the IDX’s ownership structure to change from being restricted to exchange members to permitting ownership by other parties, subject to regulations.
“Indonesia already has a basis for reforming the exchange through demutualisation, which is provided for in the latest OJK regulation,” he said.
The OJK issued Regulation No. 13 of 2026 on Stock Exchange Shareholders, which took effect on 17 September 2026, providing a basis for demutualisation.
The regulation covers share ownership in the exchange, the separation of regulatory and commercial functions, and requirements to safeguard the independence of exchange management.
Buddi said the regulatory framework needed to be followed by clarity on the stages of implementation so that the benefits of reform could be reflected in improved governance.
MSCI is consulting on the possibility of reclassifying Indonesia’s capital market from Emerging Market to Standalone Market until 30 April 2027, with a final decision due no later than 30 June 2027.
Buddi said greater disclosure and consistent implementation of reforms could help maintain the credibility of Indonesia’s capital market in the eyes of global investors.