Companies ready for eventual bourse launch

Companies ready for eventual bourse launch

By Zaw Htike   |   Tuesday, 27 May 2014

 

Foreign partners in a planned Yangon stock exchange say they expect four or five companies to be ready by the scheduled launch in October 2015.

The comments come amid speculation that the launch is likely to be pushed back from 2015 because of delays in putting the regulatory framework in place and training enough qualified staff to run the exchange.

Shigeto Inami, managing director of Myanmar Securities Exchange Centre, which is working jointly with Daiwa International to establish the stock exchange, said he thought that 10-30 companies would list soon after the exchange launches.

"But some are not likely to be ready in time for 2015 October," he said. "I think around five companies might be ready in time."

He said the major challenge that needs to be overcome is the establishment of a regulatory body to vet companies that want to list on the exchange.

"A security exchange committee (SEC) has not yet been formed in Myanmar and this is one of the big challenges in setting up the Yangon Stock Exchange," Mr Inami said.

"Who will watch which companies meet the criteria for [listing]? … There are so many challenges but my suggestion is that an SEC should be formed immediately."

One of the companies that is likely to list as soon as possible is Myanmar Agri-Business Public Company Limited, or MAPCO. Mr Inami made the comments during a ceremony in Yangon on May 24 at which MAPCO, MSEC and Daiwa signed an agreement on preparations for the launch of the stock exchange.

MAPCO managing director U Ye Min Aung said the company began readying for a public listing after the Myanmar Security Exchange Law was approved in June 2013.

''Though MAPCO can work as a public company in Myanmar without being listed on the stock market, [the board of directors] want  MAPCO to come out as a big and strong public company in the international market," he said. "But we know there are so many challenges to be ready."

MAPCO was formed in 2011 and is backed by Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF). It has more than 1300 shareholders and is working with Japan's Mitsui Corporation on several agriculture-related projects.

Speaking at a ceremony, Deputy Minister for Finance Dr Maung Maung Thein said the country's economy would benefit if MAPCO was able to grow through a stock exchange listing.

"Whether MAPCO lists will depend on the criteria [set by the regulator] but we have to welcome its commitment to try and list because Myanmar needs a lot of strong public companies," he said.

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2014/06/02/companies-ready-for-eventual-bourse-launch/