Published on 24 December 2012 [
manilatimes.net ]
Written by MADELAINE B. MIRAFLOR REPORTER
The
Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) sees more firms complying with its public
ownership rule, after it said last week that it would suspend or delist
companies that fail to do so.
The PSE recently
announced that there was a significant improvement in the number of companies
that have complied with the minimum public ownership (MPO) requirement, which
demands companies to at least have a minimum of 10 percent of their issued and
outstanding shares, exclusive of any treasury shares, held by the public.
“The MPO rule
aims to provide a fair and efficient facility for price discovery and to ensure
that sufficient liquidity exists in the stock market,” the local bourse said.
PSE
memorandum dated December 21 shows that only a total of 12 listed companies
remain non-compliant with the MPO requirement compared with the 25 listed
companies that were on the list last December 7.
These
companies have been given a grace period of up to December 31, 2012 to comply.
“Selling by
principal shareholders of their holdings to the public has resulted in
increased compliance with the MPO requirement. This is consistent with the
intent of the rule to put more shares in the hands of the investing public,”
PSE President and Chief Executive Officer Hans Sicat said.
“We have been
receiving inquiries from investors on this issue and we continue to urge the
investing public to remain watchful of developments on this matter,” he added.
The PSE has been
regularly posting on its website the list of the non-MPO compliant companies.
Immediately
after December 31, 2012, the exchange shall impose a trading suspension on the
shares of non-compliant listed companies for a period of not more than six
months or until June 30, 2013. If after June 30, 2013, a listed company remains
non-compliant, the listed company’s shares shall be delisted.
“The Bureau
of Internal Revenue, as contained in its recent rule issuance relating to the
MPO rules, will impose capital gains tax and a documentary stamp tax [DST] on
every sale, barter, exchange or other disposition after December 31,2012 of
shares of listed companies which are not compliant with the MPO requirement,”
the local bourse said.
After
December 31, 2012, a capital gains tax equivalent to 5 percent of the net
capital gains amounting to not over P100,000 shall apply while a 10 percent
capital gains tax will apply on the excess.
Also, DST of
P0.75 on each P200 of the par value of the stock will also be applied on the
sale.
In contrast,
shares traded at the PSE are subject only to stock transaction tax equivalent
to 0.50 percent of the transaction value levied on the seller.
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