By Megan Cheah
Singapore plans to free up trading in Singtel shares by transferring control of legacy discounted shares to individual shareholders from a state-administered trustee structure.
The move would allow holders of these legacy discounted shares to manage, track and trade their shares directly, as well as offer Singtel greater flexibility to carry out corporate actions in a timely manner, the telecommunications operator and Singapore's Central Provident Fund Board said Tuesday.
The transfer is planned for Nov. 21, subject to the passing of a bill in Singapore's parliament to enable this move, they said.
CPF Board, which manages the country's mandatory social-security savings scheme, is the trustee for these legacy discounted shares. The shares had been offered to members of the pension scheme to buy with their savings through two exercises in 1993 and 1996.
From Wednesday, investors who seek to sell the legacy shares will have certain conditions waived so they can receive their sales proceeds in cash instead of retaining them in their social-security savings accounts, said Singtel and CPF Board.
Singtel's shares were at 5.03 Singapore dollars, equivalent to US$3.92, when it called for an afternoon trading halt on Tuesday. The stock fell as much as 3.0% to S$4.88 after the halt was lifted.
Write to Megan Cheah at megan.cheah@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-07-26 0341ET
