A stock crash cost him his job — Indonesia Stock Exchange CEO resigns!

(Jakarta, Jan 30)
The CEO of the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), Iman Rachman, said he will step down after Indonesian equities suffered two straight days of sharp losses triggered by an MSCI warning that the market could face a downgrade.

Investor concerns remain high over whether Indonesia’s regulatory measures can meet the requirements set by index providers. On Friday (Jan 30), the market rebounded, with gains at one point reaching as much as 2.2%.

On Wednesday (Jan 28), MSCI raised questions about the investability of Indonesian equities and warned that Indonesia could be reclassified from an “Emerging Market” to a “Frontier Market,” prompting a two-day selloff.

In its statement, MSCI cited long-standing structural issues, including low free-float levels, heavy ownership concentration among a small number of shareholders, and limited liquidity. Given persistent concerns over free-float availability and broader market accessibility, MSCI said it would temporarily freeze adjustments related to Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite Index and warned that if conditions do not improve before May, Indonesia could be downgraded from its Emerging Markets index.

Following the warning, Indonesian stocks fell sharply and triggered circuit breakers for two consecutive sessions. However, the Jakarta Composite Index recovered on Friday; by 12:00 p.m., it was up 89.071 points, or 1.08%, to 8,321.274.