The SET approved amending its rules on trading and the clearing & settlement of listed bonds to enable its members to trade both on- and off-the-exchange bonds, whether for the members’ own accounts or as agents.
The above-mentioned debt instruments include treasury bills, government, corporate and convertible bonds, short-term bills or notes, asset-backed/mortgage-backed securities, bonds with warrants or other similar types of fixed income instruments.
In addition to amending the bond trading rules, the SET also approved relaxing free-float requirements for state enterprise listing, but only when necessary and deemed appropriate due to uncontrollable factors. In such cases, the free-float proportion will be relaxed to a minimum of 15% of the enterprise’s paid-up capital. The SET Executive Committee will be authorized to consider the appropriateness of relaxing the requirements on a case-by-case basis.
Presently the SET’s listing rules require a company to have at least 25% of the company’s paid-up shares in the hands of retail shareholders. However, a Cabinet meeting last year resolved that corporatized state enterprises shall still have the government hold between 50-75% of their shares. Also, these state enterprises may have allocated shares to their employees; such shares will be subject to a silent period and not be included in the free-float proportion. Hence, the state enterprise’s free-float may fall under the required portion. Relaxing the requirements will be considered only when necessary and due to non-controllable factors, to maintain the liquidity of the listed securities in the secondary market.
“The relaxation is in line with the SET’s policy to support the listing of state enterprises,” said Ms. Patareeya Benjapolchai, SET EVP.
