Common trading in Asean bourses in 2012

PETALING JAYA: Bursa Malaysia Bhd, The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), Singapore Exchange (SGX) and the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) have appointed SunGard as the technology provider for their intra-Asean cross-border order routing and trading platform that is expected to go live in the first quarter of next year.

In a statement yesterday, Bursa Malaysia said the four exchanges had made progress toward achieving inter-connectivity between their respective markets as part of the broader Asean Exchanges collaboration.

SunGard would electronically connect the markets of participating exchanges and allow investors and brokerages to access multiple markets via a single connection.
Datuk Tajuddin Atan says says the trading link is integral to Asean Exchanges

Bursa chief executive officer Datuk Tajuddin Atan said the Asean trading link was an important development in enabling greater Asean investment mobility among intermediaries namely the brokerages and information vendors.

“This forms an integral part of the various initiatives in achieving the objective of the Asean Exchanges to promote Asean capital market growth,” he said.

PSE president and chief executive officer Hans B. Sicat said the Asean trading link would facilitate global trade especially for retail investors seeking a bigger exposure in a fast growing Asean market.

SGX chief executive officer Magnus Bocker said it was pleased with the development of the Asean trading link which would enable investors to easily trade across markets in this region.

“The combined gross domestic product growth of which is expected to average 6% annually across the Asean countries over the next five years. We expect this link to drive greater liquidity and investment mobility in Asean,” he said.

SET president Charamporn Jotikasthira said the tie-ups with SunGard was another milestone for the Asean link project.

“However, technology alone is not sufficient to make this project a success. The Asean exchanges will work together on marketing initiatives to promote the Asean link and asset class.

“Among others, there will be a networking event to promote cross-border partnerships among Asean brokers in Phuket in July,” he said.

SunGard’s Asia-Pacific managing director Nasser Khodri said the initiative represented a key milestone on the road to an integrated Asean capital market and they were delighted to be chosen as a partner in the alliance.