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Bursa Malaysia today announced that effective 3rd August 2009, the trading halt of stocks for the purpose of disseminating material announcements by listed companies will be shortened to one hour from one trading session currently. This will benefit listed companies as there will only be a minimal disruption of their securities from being traded. Investors will also benefit from more trading opportunities as the suspension hours are significantly reduced. A trading halt refers to a temporary halt in the trading of listed securities upon the release of information that has material effect on the price of the securities.
Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia Berhad, Dato’ Yusli Mohamed Yusoff said, “A trading halt imposed when making material disclosure is important to enable investors adequate time to evaluate the company’s announcements and make informed investment decisions. Shortening of the halt period will enhance market efficiency as trading interruption is kept to the minimum, and both the issuer and investor will benefit from being able to trade with minimal interruptions.”
Currently, Bursa Malaysia requires listed companies to make material disclosures to the exchange and these announcements are posted on Bursa Malaysia’s website, ensuring investors have continuous access to corporate information.
On 3rd August, the new suspension time will be as follows:
- For materials announcements that are made before the trading period starts
(9:00 am) as well as between 9:00 am and 11:00 am, a trading halt will be
imposed for 1 hour from the time the material announcement is made. Order
entry and modification will be allowed during this time and Theoretical
Opening Price (TOP) will be calculated, but no matching of trades will take
place.
- For material announcement that are released after 11:00 am, the trading
halt will be until the end of the trading session at 12:30 pm. Similarly,
where the material announcement is released after 3:30 pm, the trading halt
will be until the end of the trading session at 5:00 pm. Order entry and
modification is not allowed during this time, and TOP will not be
calculated.
- For material announcements that are released between 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm,
the trading halt imposed will be for 1 hour from 2:30 pm. Order entry and
modification will be allowed during this time and TOP will be calculated,
but no matching of trades will take place.
- Where the material announcement is released between 2:30 pm and 3:30 pm, a
trading halt will be imposed for 1 hour from the time the material
announcement is made. Order entry and modification will be allowed during
this time and TOP will be calculated, but no matching of trades will take
place.
- A trading halt will not be imposed where the material announcement is released during the window period from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm.
| NO. |
TIME OF RELEASE OF MATERIAL
ANNOUNCEMENT |
TRADING HALT PERIOD |
FEATURES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Before the commencement of trading at 9:00am |
9:00am to 10:00am |
|
| 2 | 9:00am until 11:00am |
1 hour from the time of trading halt |
|
| 3 | 11:01am and before 12:30pm |
From the time of trading halt until 12:30pm |
|
| 4 | 1:31pm until before the commencement of trading at
2:30pm |
2:30pm to 3:30pm |
|
| 5 | 2:31pm until 3:30pm |
1 hour from the time of trading halt |
|
| 6 | 3:31pm and before 5:00pm | From the time of trading halt until 5:00pm |
|
For more details on the rules and implementation of the new trading halt,
please go to www.bursamalaysia.com.
