Indonesia bourse to phase in 15% free-float rule, may batch firms by readiness

[JAKARTA] The Indonesia Stock Exchange will implement in stages an upcoming requirement for companies to double their minimum free float, or freely tradable stocks, to 15 per cent, its interim chief executive told Reuters on Friday (Feb 27).

The bourse may divide companies into batches according to their readiness to offer more stocks, giving each batch a year to comply with the minimum free float level, Jeffrey Hendrik said in an interview, adding the details were still subject to approval by the Financial Services Authority.

The comments are the clearest details authorities have given about the plan to increase the mandatory free float, among a raft of capital-market reforms pledged since MSCI in late January warned Indonesia risked being downgraded to frontier market status as early as May over limited transparency that may have enabled price manipulation. REUTERS