At a recent meeting, OCB shareholders decided there will be a change of listing plans.

The bank’s shares will now be listed on the HCM Stock Exchange (HOSE) and not on the Unlisted Public Company Market, or UPCoM, as decided in the second quarter.

The change is expected to improve the liquidity of the bank’s shares.

The recent meeting also tasked OCB’s executive board with completing the required paperwork and choosing a suitable time to list on HOSE.

Besides OCB, many other joint stock banks have also opted to list their shares on HOSE or on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) instead of trading on UPCoM.

The executive boards of VPBank and VietA Bank have said they are waiting for guidelines from the State Securities Commission (SSC) to complete the required procedures to list their shares on the stock market.

The SSC issued Circular 180/2015/TT-BTC on unlisted public companies, which came into effect on January 1, 2016.

According to the new rules it laid out, public companies which are not eligible for listing on the two stock exchanges and equitised enterprises must register for trading on UPCoM within 30 days from their registration as a public company.

Within 30 days of the last day of an initial public offering, unlisted public companies and equitised enterprises must register for trading on UPCoM.

The new rules were aimed at preventing eligible companies from avoiding listing and deliberately delisting, actions that could harm investors’ interests.

The authorities expect listing to improve transparency and operational efficiency of companies.

Meanwhile, according to data released by the SSC on November 30, 2015, more than 1,000 public companies were listed neither on the two stock exchanges nor on UPCoM.

The new circular stipulates a deadline of December 31, 2016, for listing by companies that have not yet listed.

Because of this, many public companies, including joint stock banks, have been hastily completing the required procedures to list their shares before the deadline. – VNS