Bangkok Post |NUNTAWUN POLKUAMDEE | 24.06.2007
The new six-country Asian board should begin operations by mid-2009, comprising 180 stocks representing the 30 largest listed companies for each market.
Nongram Wongwanich, an executive vice-president for the Stock Exchange of Thailand, said officials of the six participating exchanges hoped to select a vendor in August to set up a trading system for the new board.
The two vendors being considered are NYSE Euronext and the Nasdaq OMX Group. The vendor would be responsible for establishing a trading platform allowing real-time updates for all securities on the board.
The Asian board concept is aimed at facilitating links between the stock exchanges of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. The 180 securities to be included in the new board would have a combined market capitalisation of US$818.66 billion, or 59% of the combined market capitalisation of the six exchanges based on current data.
Financials would lead the board in terms of industry, followed by industries and consumer goods.
Mrs Nongram said that by joining together, the six Asean members could raise their profile in the global financial market beyond what any single exchange could do on its own.
If the Asean stock markets were combined, the resulting entity would rank 13th in the world, according to the World Federation of Exchanges. The Asian board alone would rank 20th among WFE members.The Asian board would first start with Thailand and Singapore, to be followed by the other four markets.
Mrs Nongram said the SET would select securities for participation based on companies ranked in the SET50 index. Final selections would be based on market capitalisation, trading liquidity and the availability of information, such as research coverage by analysts.
The SET would consider expanding the bid-offer limits for securities, as some exchanges allow matching at up to five levels compared with the three levels used in Thailand.
Filed under: Asia, Exchanges, Indonesia, Malaysia, News, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, ASEAN, Asia, Bursa, Exchanges, HOSE Ho Chi Ming Stock Exchange, IDX, SET, SGX Singapore Stock Exchange
