Photo credit: Bank of South Pacific Ltd (2021)
The Bank South Pacific Financial Group Ltd has had its application to join the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) accepted.
The bank will be listed on the ASX this week, according to Group Chief Executive Officer Robin Fleming, and shareholders will be able to transfer partial shares to the ASX.
“We were listed on the PNGX (PNG Stock Exchange) in 2003 but because of the size of BSP, that market capitalisation was close to K5.6 billion,” he said. “And because of the size of BSP, it was difficult for shareholders to have larger partials of shares and actively trade their shareholdings. Being listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, shareholders can move their shares either in full or in parts to the ASX and, therefore, trade their shares far more easily on a very liquid stock exchange market. PNG resident shareholders still have to go through a process in making sure their compliant with the Internal Revenue Commission (IRC) and Bank of PNG guidelines in respect to exchange control as to how they deal with any share sales. But once they move to the Australian stock exchange, they then have the capability to trade their shares far more readily and in a far more accessible format than is the case for PNG.
He added, “While we have a good shareholding base in PNG because of BSP’s success, the composition of BSPs investment and the portfolio of some of the superannuation funds which is very high, we’ve been successful. Our portfolio continues to increase and even if they want to trade more actively, it is constrained by the absence of liquidity in PNG.”
Sir Kostas Constantinou, the bank's chairman, said it was a watershed moment for the bank, allowing it to collect money and grow more.
“It gives us liquidity, it gives our shareholders liquidity so that they can buy and sell shares and trade on the Australian Stock Exchange,” he said.
Reference:
The National (24 May 2021). BSP set to start trading on ASX
