Over 1,000 cases of cross stock-holding among listed companies will be put under the spotlight following the bourses' new circulars on the disclosure of listed companies' interim reports, Shanghai Securities News reported.

 

Listed companies must release information on the stocks they hold in other listed companies and the stakes they have in non-listed financial companies and companies planning to go public, according to announcements issued by the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) and Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

 

It's the first time that listed companies must disclose their cross stock-holding information.

 

There were altogether 1,454 listed companies in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges as of yesterday. A total of 1,135 listed companies hold shares in other companies, accounting for 78 percent of the total number of listed companies.

 

According to incomplete statistics from the Changjiang Securities Research Institute, the cases of cross stock-holding among listed companies are 340. There are 361 cases involving listed companies holding stocks in listed and non-listed banks; 68 cases in insurance companies; 270 cases in integrated securities firms; and 68 cases with investments in trust companies. There are also eight cases of listed companies having stakes in securities brokerages, and 20 cases in fund management companies.

 

In addition, some listed companies hold shares in futures firms. So the number of cases involving listed companies holding stocks in other firms will exceed 1,135. The influence of cross stock holding on the performance of listed companies depends on the classification of the related share investments by the listed companies.

 

(China Daily July 4, 2007)