SEC rejects deferment of PSE listing

Despite last-ditch efforts by some quarters to postpone the listing of the Philippine Stock Exchange’s shares on Monday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is standing firm on its position that the bourse comply with the full divestment of its shares this year.

Sources said PSE president Ernest Leung had tried but failed to hold off the listing of the bourse’s shares.

Asked for her comment, Securities and Exchange Commission chairperson Lilia R. Bautista said: "We’re standing by our decision. The PSE has to list its shares on Monday. The rationale is for them to sell their shares so they could comply with the Securities Regulation Code. We don’t expect a sell-out."

But sources said Leung was not too keen on having the shares of the PSE listed next week due to poor market conditions. Another source said former PSE chairperson Vivian Yuchengco was also adamant about pursuing the listing of PSE’s shares.

Bautista said the SEC has already approved the PSE’s registration of 9.2 million common shares that will be offered to the public through a listing by introduction.

Intro listing refers to the listing of shares on the bourse without first undertaking an initial public offering.

The listing is a further step toward the PSE’s compliance with the ownership limitation requirements set by the SRC.

Under the SRC, no industry or business group may beneficially own or control more than 20 percent of the voting rights of the exchange. To comply with the ownership cap under the SRC, the PSE is required to offer its shares to other group of investors.

On the planned listing, Leung said: "It’s not supposed to be exciting. It’s a ceremonial event. It’s not a public offering. It’s just a regular compliance event."

Bautista said the commission has issued a resolution disallowing brokers, including their relatives, from buying shares of the PSE. "If one of their relatives buy then we will consider it an attempt to circumvent the rule. They are also not allowed to re-acquire PSE shares," she added.

As of end-October, the PSE had 217 shareholders on record with no shareholder owning five percent or more of the entire outstanding capital stock of the company. Under the demutualization plan, all trading participants were allotted 50,000 shares each.

With the listing, the PSE expects to meet the 20-percent single industry share ownership limit under the SRC within the first quarter of next year.

This early, several brokers have already signified their intention to sell their stakes to interested investors.

Last year, the PSE posted a net income of P27.96 million, an increase of 52.87 percent from the 2001 level of P18.29 million.