The Australian Securities Exchange Ltd (ASX) has made seven key changes for companies interested to list on the index which will take effect on Dec. 19.

The key changes were made after several consultations on the proposed changes began in May, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The new rules address the need to maintain appropriate listing standards and investor confidence in the ASX market, while providing a pathway for companies to list and access capital across their lifecycle," it said.

Among the changes were increasing the requirement for profit test entities to consolidated profits for the 12 months prior to admission from 400,000 Australian dollars (305,000 U.S. dollars) to 500,000 Australian dollars (381,000 U.S. dollars), increasing the net tangible assets test from 3 million Australian dollars (2.29 million U.S. dollars) to 4 million Australian dollars (3.05 million U.S. dollars).

Raising the market capitalization test from 10 million Australian dollars (7.63 million U.S. dollars) to 15 million Australian dollars (11.44 million U.S. dollars ), introducing a 20 percent minimum free float requirement, creating a single tier spread test of at least 300 security holders each holding at least 2,000 Australian dollars (1,500 U.S. dollars) of securities.

Placing a requiring asset test entities to disclose to the market two full financial years of audited accounts and any significant entity or business that it has acquired in the 12 months prior to applying for admission or that it proposes to acquire in connection with its listing and standardising the 1.5 million Australian dollars (1.14 million U.S. dollars) working capital requirement for those admitted under the assets test.

"This new policy addresses market integrity concerns about ensuring an informed market for investors, while providing a clear set of guidelines for the disclosure needed to enable trading to resume once a backdoor listing is announced," ASX's Chief Compliance Officer Kevin Lewis said in a statement.

Xinhua has learnt that as of Sept. 30, there were 2,187 companies listed on ASX with some 100 companies from overseas.

ASX also said that any listing applications received prior to Dec. 19 will be assessed based on its current listing rules.

"Applicants lodging their application on or after that date (Dec 19) will be assessed against the admission requirements in the new listing rules," it said.