Jakarta. Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund Danantara could acquire up to a 30% ownership stake in the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), its chief executive Rosan Roeslani said on Sunday, citing global practices in stock exchange ownership.

Rosan’s remarks come as Indonesia moves forward with sweeping reforms at the IDX, including plans to demutualize the exchange, following criticism over limited transparency and allegations of coordinated transactions that triggered a nearly 7% drop in the benchmark stock index over the past week.

“We see that in almost all stock exchanges around the world, sovereign wealth funds are involved as shareholders,” Rosan told reporters at the IDX building in Jakarta. “The range can be 15%, 25%, 30%, or even more.”

However, Rosan said Danantara has not yet determined the exact size of any potential stake, noting that the fund would first conduct internal assessments based on its investment criteria.

“We will study first how much we want to invest. We have our own criteria when entering and making investments,” he said.

Rosan added that Danantara would not necessarily be the only sovereign wealth fund eligible to invest in the exchange, suggesting that other global SWFs could also become shareholders.

“This is not limited to Danantara. Other sovereign wealth funds could also come in. I am referring to practices seen overseas,” he said.

Rosan, who also serves as investment minister, said the planned demutualization of the IDX would allow a broader range of investors — including foreign investors — to become shareholders, improving governance and transparency.

Under the demutualization process, ownership of the exchange would be separated from its membership, transferring control from broker members — many of which are securities firms — to external investors.

“So ownership and membership will be separated. Right now, exchange members are also owners, largely securities companies,” Rosan said. “This ownership structure will be opened up to make the exchange better governed and more transparent.”

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