Yangon’s equities exchange has only five trading stocks and very few investors, but that’s about to change
- The Yangon Stock Exchange is home to only five companies, updating prices just four times a day
- A 2018 law that permits foreigners to own up to 35 per cent of local companies paves the way for Southeast Asia’s newest and smallest equity exchange to take off, Myanmar’s officials hope
In a colonial building in Myanmar’s largest city, a large screen showed stock prices for a handful of companies. Four people, perhaps tourists, perhaps investors, shuffled around the floor. The clock struck 11. Suddenly the prices changed. Then, in an instant, all the people were gone.
That was just another day at Asia’s tiniest bourse, the Yangon Stock Exchange. Home to only five companies, it updates prices just four times a day. And those are the high points. The rest of the time, little happens at all.
But, says Thet Htun Oo, a senior official at the exchange, that just might be about to change.
Last year, Myanmar passed a new Companies Law that says foreign investors can own as much as 35 per cent of local firms.
That, potentially, has great significance for the stock exchange. Until now, only domestic investors were allowed to trade. But soon, it should be possible for foreigners to participate too. All that’s required is for the securities regulator to give the OK. Then, in two stages, the bourse will welcome foreigners based in Myanmar, followed by overseas institutional investors. That, says Thet Htun Oo, is exactly what it needs to take off.
