Exchange to Extend Treasury Stock Acquisition Limit for 3 Months

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] As part of easing stock market volatility measures, financial authorities have decided to expand the limit on listed companies' treasury stock acquisitions for three months.

On the 6th, the Korea Exchange announced that from July 7 to October 6, it will relax the daily purchase order quantity limits for treasury stocks in the KOSPI, KOSDAQ, and KONEX markets.

Under current regulations, treasury stock purchase orders for direct acquisitions are limited to the lesser of "10% of the reported acquisition shares" or "25% of the average daily trading volume over the 30 days prior to the board resolution." For the next three months, the limit will be increased to allow up to "the entire reported acquisition shares." Additionally, the trust acquisition limit will be raised from the existing "within 1% of total issued shares" to "within the total value of trust assets."

At the 13th Financial Services Commission meeting held that day, the "Special Measures for Treasury Stock Purchase Orders" were approved, leading to these relaxed standards. The eased criteria will apply from July 7 for treasury stock trading application submissions and will be retroactively applied to listed companies that have already submitted treasury stock acquisition reports.