Indonesia financial regulator will impose 15% stock free float requirement

[JAKARTA] Indonesia’s financial regulator said on Thursday (Jan 29) that it would double the free float requirement on listed firms to 15 per cent as part of its response to MSCI concerns about transparency on the country’s stock exchange, which prompted massive sell-offs this week.

The head of the Financial Services Authority Mahendra Siregar, speaking at a press conference, said several other measures would be taken in response to the MSCI’s concerns, including measures to make supervision more timely and effective.

Mahendra said communication with MSCI had thus far been positive and it was awaiting a response to its proposed measures, which he hoped could be implemented soon and the issues resolved by March.

He said that Indonesian authorities had taken MSCI’s feedback as “good input” and were open to other policy adjustments too, if needed.

Separately, the Indonesia stock exchange also said it would check the affiliations of shareholders with less than 5 per cent ownership. REUTERS