Overseas listing plans hit a brick wall

March 08, 2011 | 15:54

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Domestic companies’ plans to list offshore have yet to take off.

Major companies and finance institutions such as Vinamilk (VNM), PetroVietnam Finance (PVF), Vincom Corp. (VIC), Itaco (ITA) and Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group (HAG) have had plans to list shares on foreign markets as the local market fails to measure up.

Those plans, however, are waiting for legal guidance from local authorities, as there is no specific legal framework for overseas listings.

The State Securities Commission (SSC), State Bank and General Department of Taxation are the bodies which companies ask for detailed guidance to sell shares via foreign stock exchanges.

PVF said it was waiting for the State Bank’s approval for selling stakes overseas, before submitting its overseas listing file to the SSC. The finance institution planned to list their shares on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX).

Vincom, which had decided in its 2010’s shareholders meeting to allocate more than 20 per cent stake on the SGX within 2011’s Q1, said there have several procedures remained to complete up to this date, although the company have had guidance from SSC and State Bank. The company has lately employed agencies to help it dealing with the complex legal procedures.

Meanwhile, Vinamilk intends to cancel its listing plan abroad, although the dairy giant had received SGX approval in October, 2008. The company had previously reduced the foreigners’ stakes in order to list stake overseas.

Nguyen Ngoc Canh, SSC International Cooperation Department director, told VIR that the market watchdog was building a circular, which guides companies listing their shares on foreign exchanges. The circular, however, is expected to be completed in May and come into effect in July this year.

By Thanh Doan

vir.com.vn

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