Imagine you are invited to a grand party in a magnificent ballroom. The music is booming, the lights are sparkling, and the dishes are neatly arranged. But when you are about to dance, you suddenly realize that 90 percent of the ballroom floor has already been privately reserved by one large family.
You and hundreds of other guests are only allowed to squeeze into a narrow corner of the room. That is the satirical picture often felt by retail investors when dealing with issuers that have highly concentrated share ownership on the Indonesia Stock Exchange.
The recent announcement regarding the identification of issuers with concentrated ownership came like a bolt from the blue for some market participants, while for others, it was an oasis of transparency long awaited. This phenomenon is not merely an administrative matter on the exchange’s notice board. Substantively, it touches the very heart of liquidity and market fairness issues.
Data from Bloomberg shows that in emerging markets, excessively concentrated ownership is often directly proportional to low daily trading volumes. When a single controlling party dominates too large a portion, the market mechanism for forming fair prices becomes paralyzed. Share prices no longer reflect fundamental performance, but rather the “desire” of the controlling owner.
In the context of the global economy in 2026, which is being hit by uncertainty—with crude oil prices remaining above US$100 per barrel and pressure on the Rupiah exchange rate reaching the psychological level of IDR 17,000 per US dollar—the stability of the capital market has become extremely crucial. Reuters reported that global institutional investors are becoming increasingly selective; they seek markets with Good Corporate Governance standards comparable to those of advanced stock exchanges.
If our market continues to be filled with “sleeping stocks” locked up by a handful of conglomerates, we should not expect foreign capital inflows to remain comfortably parked in Jakarta. Foreign investors will view this phenomenon as a systemic risk that could trigger price manipulation or at least create difficulties in executing exit strategies during periods of turbulence.
However, we must also be fair. Many of these companies with concentrated ownership are our “National Champions”—giant corporations that form the backbone of the national macroeconomy. They employ thousands of workers, pay enormous amounts of taxes, and possess strong fundamentals.
The issue is not their existence, but rather their reluctance to share the “dance floor” more proportionally with the public. Other mass media have noted that several top-tier issuers still maintain a very minimal free float, making their price movements highly vulnerable to narrow speculation.
Therefore, the policy of disclosing ownership concentration status should be viewed as a vaccine, not a poison. To strengthen our capital market, the government through the Financial Services Authority and the Indonesia Stock Exchange must go further.
First, the gradual increase of the minimum free float ratio must be enforced with credible sanctions. There should no longer be “eternal dispensations” for large issuers.
Second, protection for minority investors must be strengthened through more meaningful voting rights mechanisms in strategic corporate decisions (affirmative minority rights). We want retail investors to feel like company owners, not merely spectators on the sidelines.
Third, the digitalization of capital market supervision must be enhanced. The use of artificial intelligence to detect transaction anomalies in highly concentrated stocks should become the new standard. This would provide reassurance that even if a stock is dominated by a single owner, there is no room for manipulative “pump-and-dump” practices that harm the public.
Education for retail investors must also go beyond simply teaching how to buy stocks, and include how to read ownership structures as part of risk management.
Ultimately, the honesty of a stock exchange reflects the maturity of a nation’s economy.
Indonesia cannot continue relying solely on narratives of 5.4 percent economic growth without being accompanied by an inclusive and transparent capital market. We do not want our stock exchange to become merely a “private celebration” for economic titans, while the broader public remains anxious spectators.
By encouraging ownership transparency, we are actually building a national economic foundation that is more democratic and resilient against global storms.
Let us ensure that in the grand ballroom of our economy, everyone has enough space to dance and enjoy the fruits of development fairly. Transparency is not the enemy of capital owners; it is the guarantee that such capital will continue to grow within a healthy ecosystem trusted by the world.
This article was published by SINDOnews.com.
