The CLOB issue, affecting some RM16 billion worth of shares held by 172,000 individuals that were formerly traded on Singapore’s over-the-counter CLOB (Central Limit Order Book) market, have been outstanding for 15 months after Malaysia banned CLOB trading as part of capital controls introduced in September 1998.
The Kuala Lumpur stock exchange authorised the Singapore Central Depository Pte Ltd (CDP) to act as nominee in charge of the shares, but that status is set to expire on December 31.
CLOB shareholders could lose their legal ownership unless CDP's nominee
status is renewed.
The CLOB issue should not be dragged out further and the Malaysian
government should intervene to resolve the RM16 billion CLOB issue
by end of the year, which would remove one of the sore irritants in Malaysia-Singapore
relationship as well as to restore market confidence.
If the CLOB issue cannot be resolved before the end of the year,
the authorities should undertake to renew its status to allow for a solution
to be reached early next year.
(24/12/99)