First Myanmar Investment (FMI), owned by businessperson Serge Pun, has asked its shareholders to open digital accounts, ahead of the company’s planned listing on the new Yangon Stock Exchange later this year, officials said.
It is working with two securities companies on its initial public offering – KBZ Stirling Coleman Securities (KBZSC) and Myanmar Securities Exchange Centre.
U Tun Tun, chief financial officer of FMI said shares will be traded electronically on the YSX. The company must therefore transfer existing shareholders from their physical share certificates to digital accounts.
All shareholders must return their physical securities within a month, U Tun Tun said.
“If FMI successfully completes a listing on the new exchange, all shareholders will need securities accounts, to buy and sell our shares.”
Securities accounts are a new concept in Myanmar, he said, and the two securities companies are helping shareholders with the process, he added.
“Shareholders can come to FMI and meet with these securities companies to better understand the trading process and how to open a securities account,” he said. The company has also sent a detailed notice to all the parties involved.
According to a report in state media on January 27, KBZSC will issue a username and pin code to each shareholder, allowing them to access the YSX online by logging on to the security company’s website.
Orders placed by account holders will be sent to the YSX, which will reset the share price, the report said.
YSX director U Thet Tun Oo said yesterday that the exchange is evaluating the situation, but hopes to start trading 100 percent electronically.
“As we want the first trades to go smoothly, we can’t say they will happen as soon as March. We still need approval from the authorities,” he said. “On the other hand, companies are still preparing to list. We will probably start with two or three.”
At the exchange launch last year, officials announced the names of six companies that had been approved to list, and said the first initial public offerings would likely be in March.
Source: Myanmar Times
