Airlangga Orders Swift Crackdowns on Stock Manipulators as Indonesia Pushes Capital Market Reform

JAKARTA, Investortrust.id — Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto says President Prabowo Subianto has ordered regulators to act decisively and without delay against stock price manipulators on Thursday, Feb 5, 2026 in Jakarta, warning that unchecked abuses have clouded Indonesia’s capital market credibility and weighed on global investor perception. The move is expected to accelerate enforcement, restore confidence, and support deeper market reforms amid scrutiny from MSCI and Moody’s.

Speaking at the Annual Financial Services Industry Meeting 2026 at the Birawa Assembly Hall of the Bidakara Hotel, Airlangga said negative assessments by global index and rating agencies reflected what he called a blurred portrait of Indonesia’s capital market caused by so called stock frying practices. He said the President had instructed the stock exchange and the Financial Services Authority (OJK) to resolve violations in the shortest possible time.

“The capital market is our window of integrity,” Airlangga said. “Do not let this window be seen by foreign investors as a blurred image. Even if macroeconomic fundamentals are solid, if the window is cloudy, the impact can be long lasting. That is why the President has asked for a rapid response and swift resolution.”

Airlangga said Prabowo had emphasized that any breach of exchange rules, OJK regulations, or prevailing laws by investors, listed companies, or exchange members must be met with firm action. He said integrity was non negotiable because the capital market served as a key signal of governance quality to global investors.

.

In a lighter tone, Airlangga joked that stock frying should be avoided. “Frying needs cooking oil,” he said, adding that markets must be protected so demand remained strong and investor confidence was not eroded.

To strengthen transparency, Airlangga said shareholders owning more than 1 percent of a listed company should be publicly disclosed. He said clearer ownership data would narrow the room for manipulation and prevent what he described as artificial price processing.

“The English term for processing is manufacturing, and in Indonesian it is fabrication,” he said. “There should be no processing or fabrication of prices.”

Airlangga said markets had already begun adjusting in recent days and that perceptions shaped by global rating agencies and international investors could be addressed through stronger communication, transparency, and roadshows conducted by the Indonesia Stock Exchange and OJK. He said updates on ongoing transformations needed to be communicated clearly to maintain trust in Indonesia’s capital market.

Referring to remarks by OJK acting chair Friderica Widyasari Dewi, Airlangga said the formation of a Capital Market Integrity Reform Task Force must be accompanied by clear deadlines, schedules, and reform agendas. He thanked OJK for what he described as continuous improvements.

On the minimum public shareholding policy, Airlangga acknowledged that many listed companies still had free float levels between 7.5 percent and 10 percent, below the planned 15 percent threshold. He said public companies would be given time to adjust but must begin preparations to support market deepening.

.

Airlangga said President Prabowo had also directed efforts to strengthen domestic institutional investors. He said allocations by pension funds, BPJS Employment, insurers, and other institutions to equities would be raised from 10 percent to 20 percent, with stock selection focused on quality names such as the LQ45 index.

“Technical implementation will be handled by OJK,” he said.

In line with presidential instructions, Airlangga said the financial sector, particularly the capital market, required comprehensive reform. One of the main agendas was the demutualization of the stock exchange, which he said would be prepared through a government regulation.

He said demutualization could be carried out in two stages, first through private placement and later through an initial public offering. He said the technical details would be discussed further but stressed the importance of clearer accountability between the exchange and its members.

In a separate address, Friderica, known as Kiki, said OJK together with the Indonesia Stock Exchange, the central securities depository, the clearing house, industry players, and other stakeholders were committed to reforming the integrity of Indonesia’s capital market.

She said OJK had discussed the issue with the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs and would soon establish a Capital Market Integrity Reform Task Force.

Kiki outlined eight accelerated reform measures, including raising the free float requirement from 7.5 percent to 15 percent, mandatory disclosure of ultimate beneficial owners, expanded disclosure of investor types, broader disclosure of share ownership above 1 percent, demutualization of the exchange, stricter enforcement and sanctions, improved issuer governance, and integrated market deepening supported by stakeholder collaboration.

.

“Reform requires support from all parties, regulators, industry, and market stakeholders,” she said.

Separately, the Indonesia Stock Exchange said it had issued new rules governing free float requirements for companies planning initial public offerings. Under the new regulation, minimum free float ranges from 15 percent to 25 percent depending on market capitalization, and the rules took effect on Wednesday, Feb 4, 2026.

The provisions are stipulated in Exchange Regulation Number I A concerning amendments to equity listing rules and apply to both the main board and the development board.

The exchange said companies seeking a main board listing must have operated commercially in their core business for at least 36 consecutive months, supported by revenue records for the past three fiscal years.

It also requires a minimum free float of 300 million shares within five trading days prior to listing, along with minimum shareholder thresholds.

For development board listings, the exchange requires at least 24 months of commercial operations and a minimum free float of 150 million shares.

Director of Listing Evaluation I Gede Nyoman Yetna said the exchange would prioritize 49 listed companies as a pilot group for achieving the 15 percent free float requirement.

He said around 267 listed companies had yet to meet the new threshold, but the 49 prioritized firms represented roughly 90 percent of the market capitalization of companies still below the requirement.

“We will focus first on these 49, although all 267 must comply,” Nyoman said. “By addressing these 49 alone, we already cover about 90 percent of the affected market capitalization across sectors.”

Nyoman said the exchange had not revised its IPO pipeline target and remained optimistic about listing 50 new companies in 2026, including six large capitalization lighthouse IPOs.