Stock Exchange Council approves GEM's plan to compete with Nasdaq market

The stock exchange council has given the go-ahead to the pending Growth Enterprise Market's (GEM) plan to further relax listing rules to help it compete with the Nasdaq market in the United States.

The council approved a proposal to shorten the share lock-up period of GEM companies from two years to six months.

The council also approved a proposal to lower the minimum public float requirement for sizeable companies.

Under this rule, companies with a market capitalisation of more than $2 billion can reduce the minimum public float size to 15 per cent, compared with 25 per cent for other GEM companies.