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Asean bourse will need common currency, technology


MANILA, Philippines - The proposed regional stock market will have to address regulatory differences, agree on a common currency and trading technology, and inform the current pool of investors about opportunities in the integrated bourse before it can take off, analysts said Monday. Southeast Asian regulators must particularly lay the ground rules, starting with the currency to be used, Harry Liu of brokerage Summit Securities said in an interview. Mr. Liu said the integration of the stock exchanges is a good idea, but regulators should carefully study how it will be implemented. He noted that while it provides opportunities for some local firms, it can also disadvantage others since companies will start competing with more developed firms in more advanced economies like Singapore. The board of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) has approved the local exchange’s participation in a scheme allowing cross-border trading. The tie-up is meant to allow exchanges in the region to deal with global pressures as a group. Regional bourses have been pummeled by the chaos on Wall Street following the collapse of major US investment banks. The so-called ASEAN Board will link the PSE with the Bursa Malaysia, Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, Indonesia Stock Exchange, Singapore Stock Exchange and the Stock Exchange of Thailand. In a separate interview, Grace C. Cerdenia of brokerage 2TradeAsia expects participating countries to maintain their respective corporate regulators, even as she cited the need for a uniform regulatory format especially for settlement rules. "If a Filipino investor opens an account in a foreign country for example, will he be bound by the settlement rules there or by the rules here? Will the proposed bourses have common rules?" she asked. Irving I. Ackerman of brokerage Ackerman & Co., Inc. said integrating regional bourses would be easier to implement this time with the ease in procuring dollars now compared with two decades ago, when he claimed to have first proposed the integration of regional exchanges. But it would be up to the exchanges which currency to use, he added. The three brokers agreed that the proposed regional stock market would not take away local capital from domestic companies and will give Philippine firms access to foreign capital. In a telephone interview, PSE President and Chief Executive Officer Francis Ed Lim said he and his counterparts have yet to schedule a meeting where they will discuss how to go about with the integration. Under a proposed memorandum of agreement, participating exchanges will commit to the trading of 30 companies each. Mr. Ackerman said it would be better for the Philippines to start first with 10 stocks that will assure investors a good return. Some analysts earlier noted that while the integrated bourse could allow market participants to share expertise, local brokerages might also lose out if investors choose to transact with an overseas firm to buy Philippine stocks. — BusinessWorld
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