By Kim Da-ye

A KOSDAQ executive said Thursday that the tech-heavy bourse would allow firms with revenue as low as 2 billion won to be listed if transparency in their management meets certain criteria.

“We are looking for small, yet clean companies. We would let not just mid-size venture firms but also highly transparent small companies to go public,” Park Sang-jo, president of the Korea Exchange’s KOSDAQ market division, said in a meeting with journalists in western Seoul.

Park said firms that would not qualify were those where owners or high-level executives use the company’s assets for their own purposes, or list their acquaintances not working for the firms as board members.

The initiative is part of the KOSDAQ’s larger plan to boost integrity in the nation’s secondary stock market as a bubble collapse and highly speculative trading have caused losses to investors, tainting the market’s reputation.

While loosening criteria for going public, the KOSDAQ has toughened its regulations over already-listed firms. The “Substantial Delisting Examination” ― introduced in February 2009 ― assesses and delists companies when deemed necessary.

“It is now easy to get listed, but the listed firms will find it tougher to remain listed,” Park said.

That also means more difficulties await investors, many of whom tend to invest in listed companies without studying their balance sheets closely.

Park said some 1,030 KOSDAQ-listed firms have revenue of 47 billion won on average, while one firm generated annual sales as low as 1.3 billion won.