The firm, which is expected to be the second to move its shares onto Myanmar’s new exchange, has not yet received approval from the YSX to list, said Kensuke Yazu, Myanmar representative for the Japan Exchange Group, which co-owns the stock exchange.
First Myanmar Investment became the first firm to list on the exchange on March 25.
Once the YSX gives a firm approval to list, the bourse then requires – due to logistical necessity rather than regulation – 10 business days to prepare the YSX and securities company systems, and make public the company’s disclosure documents and prospectus, Mr Yazu said.
If MTSH were to receive approval this week then the earliest it would be able to list would be the second week of May, he said. The company said in February that it aimed for a listing date in mid-March.
Rudi Rolles, managing director at KBZ Stirling Coleman, one of the securities firms working with MTSH on its initial public offering (IPO), said he expected MTSH to list in mid-May.
MTSH chair U Win Aung told The Myanmar Times in February that MTSH was working with AYA Trust Securities Company, Myanmar Securities Exchange Centre, CB Bank Securities and KBZ Stirling Coleman Securities on its IPO.
Any firm applying to list on the exchange has to go through an examination process, which requires interviewing the company’s staff, accountants and management, Mr Yazu said.
During the examination the YSX judges whether a firm is eligible to list based on criteria such as “financial soundness, corporate governance and [the] internal management system”, he added.
The examination typically takes at least 45 days and the YSX began examining MTSH in February, he said. The fact that MTSH had yet to receive approval was due to the long New Year holiday rather than issues with the company, he said.
That MTSH has so many shareholders could also mean the listing takes more time, Mr Yazu said. When FMI listed on March 25 it had 6800 shareholders, whereas MTSH has more than twice that number. In order for these shares to be traded on the YSX each shareholder has to first open an account at a securities firm.
“MTSH has more than 15,000 existing shareholders and all [the] securities companies [are] trying very hard to manage the situation,” Mr Yazu said, adding that he understood the process was going smoothly.
When trading in MTSH does start, the increase in the number of people buying and selling shares on the YSX could also present problems. Even dealing with the rush of demand to trade FMI shares caused issues for securities firms, who struggled to properly explain trading risks to so many eager clients.
FMI chair Serge Pun called a meeting of securities companies at the end of March after his firm’s shares lost and then regained 24 percent of their value in just a few hours.
One factor in these swings may have been that brokers at securities firms had difficulty explaining how different types of bids and offers worked due to the sheer volume of new investors, said U Thet Htun Oo, executive senior manager at the YSX administration department.
FMI’s shares closed at K33,000 yesterday, down K1000 from the previous day. The shares were listed at K26,000 and hit a high of K41,000 in late March.
Mr Rolles declined to comment on whether KBZ SC had hired new brokers in preparation for trading MTSH shares.
Source: The Myanmar Times
