Prime Minister S.Batbold has said initial public offerings of Mongolia's State-owned mineral assets could take more time, as the Government works on upgrading the stock exchange to facilitate dual listings,.

"We'd prefer to list [companies] in Mongolia first, but it may take more time than we expected to list on the local exchange because things are not running properly in terms of infrastructure and management and real-time functions," Batbold recently explained to The Wall Street Journal Asia.

The Prime Minister would like to see dual listings of Mongolian assets, with companies offering shares on exchanges such as Hong Kong, London or New York as well as on the Mongolian Stock Exchange. State-owned companies up for listing include Erdenes MGL LLC, which owns licenses for the Tavantolgoi coal mine as well as other mineral deposits; Erdenet Mining Corp., and MIAT.

The Government is hiring managers with international experience for the exchange, he said. Among the issues that need to be addressed is establishing regulatory standards that are in line with international rules. Batbold said he would also like foreign companies that hold Mongolian assets and are listed abroad to list a 10% stake on the local exchange. Such companies include SouthGobi Energy Resources and as Mongolia Energy Corp., both listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

 

Source:  news agency