Tokyo Stock Exchange anxious to attract foreign listings

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2004

TOKYO (AFP) — The Tokyo Stock Exchange said it is studying ways to boost the number of foreign companies listed here, a move seen as an attempt to boost business and especially to get in on the China growth story.

An exchange official said the TSE is considering eliminating its separate section for foreign firms, where trading volumes have been falling steadily, to put all the companies in the main, first section.

The number of foreign firms listed in Tokyo has fallen from a peak of 127 in 1991 to 32, while their annual trading volume has plummeted from 755.2 million shares in 1987 to 6.4 million shares in 2003, according to TSE figures.

TSE-listed companies grew from 1,532 to 2,194 over the same period, with annual trading volumes rising from 263.6 billion...