Indonesia Bourse Excludes 80 High-Concentration Stocks from Benchmark Index to Bolster Governance

JAKARTA, Investortrust.id — The Indonesia Stock Exchange (BEI) will eliminate all equities exhibiting high ownership concentration from the calculation of the benchmark Jakarta Composite Index (IHSG), expanding a governance overhaul designed to elevate the integrity and transparency of Southeast Asia's largest securities market.

The exclusionary mandate targets securities categorized under the High Shareholding Concentration (HSC) surveillance framework. Under the directive, while the affected counters remain officially listed and fully eligible for secondary continuous auction trading, their daily fluctuations will no longer influence the direction of the headline benchmark gauge.

Heavy concentrations of equity locked within tightly held insider blocks have created persistent liquidity bottlenecks across Indonesian equities, allowing small-volume trades to disproportionately distort the broader market index. By excising high-concentration counters from the headline calculation, exchange authorities aim to eliminate artificial price swings and align local benchmarks with international standards. The move serves as an urgent regulatory signal to global index providers like MSCI Inc., which recently warned of structural market opacity and questioned the authentic investable free float available to international institutional capital.

Speaking to journalists at the exchange headquarters in Jakarta on Monday, Oct. 19, 2026, BEI President Director Jeffrey Hendrik made clear that the intervention is strictly an index calculation overhaul rather than a disciplinary delisting.

"To provide a price index that is more credible and possesses greater integrity, we will exclude all high shareholding concentration stocks from the composite index," Jeffrey said. "This is not a delisting, but they will no longer be considered within the calculation of the IHSG."

Index Restrictions

The move significantly expands prior index restrictions. The bourse operator had previously barred flagged HSC shares from entering specialized liquid benchmark baskets, including the LQ45, IDX30, and IDX80. By widening that exclusion to the flagship composite index, authorities are removing structural distortions across the wider equity universe.

Jeffrey noted that the intervention is vital to ensuring the benchmark provides an authentic gauge of market activity, pointing out that stocks with dense ownership structures carry inherent trading and governance risks. As of Oct. 12, 2026, exchange records identified 80 listed companies meeting the HSC criteria, representing an estimated 18% aggregate weight within the IHSG.

Exchange authorities adopted the regulatory framework from practices established by the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), which systematically removes heavily concentrated counters from its primary market indices. Jeffrey observed that Hong Kong and Indonesia represent the two prominent jurisdictions maintaining explicit HSC monitoring mechanisms, making the benchmark exclusion an internationally tested model for protecting institutional allocators.

The reform lands against the backdrop of intense scrutiny from international asset allocators. Global index compiler MSCI Inc. recently launched a market consultation exploring whether to reclassify Indonesian equities from Emerging Market to Standalone Market status, citing persistent concerns over beneficial ownership transparency, genuine public float, and coordinated trading patterns. Exchange leadership expressed confidence that removing HSC counters from the headline calculation will deliver verifiable proof that Indonesian benchmark gauges operate with institutional-grade rigor.