The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) continues its mission to promote knowledge about personal finance planning and investment alternatives, under the theme “Increasing value to your saving, increasing your investment money,” in SET in the City Zone at Money Expo Pattaya. The event will be held for investors in Chonburi and nearby provinces for the first time this year, at Royal Cliff Beach Resort, during February 5-7.
“This year, SET plans to hold activities throughout the year to promote knowledge and understanding about saving and investment, supporting investors nationwide to manage their finances through different financial products. Our activities will facilitate investors’ easy access to information. The first event will be in Chonburi, followed by Bangkok in May, Nakhon Ratchasima in October, and Chiang Mai in November. Moreover, SET plans to consistently hold seminars and training courses on its new products,” said SET President Patareeya Benjapolchai.
“Holding activities for investors is one strategy to increase SET liquidity in 2010, as it will help investors and others understand about SET financial products, including the new ones to be launched this year. These products increase investment opportunity and can be used as risk management tools for investors,” added Ms. Patareeya.
Chonburi is the center of industrial and agricultural production in the East. With its strong potential for saving and investment of the people in this area, eleven securities firms with a total of 18 branches service the largest area in the East. SET, therefore, will hold SET in the City Zone at Money Expo Pattaya as the first event this year, under the theme “Increasing value to your saving, increasing your investment money,” noted SET Group Head, Product Development Kesara Manchusree.
“Today, people are looking for investment alternatives that give more return than bank deposit. This event will focus on providing investment knowledge to the public to diversify their savings to different financial products, including equities, derivatives, gold futures and mutual funds, particularly derivatives which currently is receiving great attention from investors, as derivatives accounts reached 29,546 in total (as of end-2009), an increase of 89% over 2008,” said Ms. Kesara.
At this event, leading securities and asset management companies will provide investment consulting, account opening services for all products and seminars by executives from securities companies and leading analysts everyday at 13.00-15.00 hrs. In addition, contestants can apply for the online competition SET-TFEX Click2WIN 2010.
Moreover, participants will have a chance to receive numerous souvenirs. SET in the City Zone at Money Expo Pattaya will be held at Peach Convention Hall, Royal Cliff Beach Resort, Pattaya, Chonburi during February 5-7. For more information, please contact S-E-T Call Center at 0 2229 2222 or visit www.set.or.th
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Fitch Affirms Holcim Capital (Thailand)’s Bonds; Revises Outlook to Stable
Fitch Ratings (Thailand) Limited has today affirmed the National Long-term ‘AA-(tha)’ ratings on two series of guaranteed debentures issued by Holcim Capital (Thailand) Limited (HCT) – Series II (due 2010) and Series III (due 2012), amounting to THB4.6bn. The Outlook on the ratings has been revised to Stable from Negative, due to a similar Outlook revision of its guarantor, Holcim Ltd. (Holcim) (For more information, please refer to the rating action commentary entitled “Fitch Revises Holcim’s Outlook to Stable; Affirms IDR at ‘BBB’”, dated 29 January 2010). The ratings of HCT’s debentures are based entirely on the irrevocable and unconditional guarantee provided by Holcim (‘BBB’/Stable).
Holcim’s Outlook revision reflects Fitch’s view that its credit metrics will improve gradually in the coming 24 months, which will place them more comfortably within the range of a ‘BBB’ rating. Trading conditions for the industry in mature markets will likely to remain challenged, especially in Western Europe, while growth is expected to persist in major emerging countries. Furthermore, Fitch expects positive impact on free cash flow generation from cost reduction measures, lowered capex due to the phasing out of major investment projects, and a conservative dividend policy. This will enable Holcim to progressively improve its financial metrics at a pace faster than previously anticipated by the agency.
Fitch notes that any changes in the International rating differential between Holcim and Thailand’s Sovereign rating may affect the debentures’ National ratings. In addition, a one notch change in the International rating could result in a change of more than one notch in a National Rating.
Applicable Criteria available on Fitch’s website at www.fitchratings.com: “Corporate Rating Methodology”, dated 24 November 2009.
Contacts: Obboon Thirachit, Pimrumpai Panyarachun, Vincent Milton, Bangkok, +662 655 4755; Elisabetta Zorzi, Milan, +39 02 8790 87213.
Note to Editors: Fitch’s National ratings provide a relative measure of creditworthiness for rated entities in countries with relatively low international sovereign ratings and where there is demand for such ratings. The best risk within a country is rated ‘AAA’ and other credits are rated only relative to this risk. National ratings are designed for use mainly by local investors in local markets and are signified by the addition of an identifier for the country concerned, such as ‘AAA(tha)’ for National ratings in Thailand. Specific letter grades are not therefore internationally comparable.
Holcim’s Outlook revision reflects Fitch’s view that its credit metrics will improve gradually in the coming 24 months, which will place them more comfortably within the range of a ‘BBB’ rating. Trading conditions for the industry in mature markets will likely to remain challenged, especially in Western Europe, while growth is expected to persist in major emerging countries. Furthermore, Fitch expects positive impact on free cash flow generation from cost reduction measures, lowered capex due to the phasing out of major investment projects, and a conservative dividend policy. This will enable Holcim to progressively improve its financial metrics at a pace faster than previously anticipated by the agency.
Fitch notes that any changes in the International rating differential between Holcim and Thailand’s Sovereign rating may affect the debentures’ National ratings. In addition, a one notch change in the International rating could result in a change of more than one notch in a National Rating.
Applicable Criteria available on Fitch’s website at www.fitchratings.com: “Corporate Rating Methodology”, dated 24 November 2009.
Contacts: Obboon Thirachit, Pimrumpai Panyarachun, Vincent Milton, Bangkok, +662 655 4755; Elisabetta Zorzi, Milan, +39 02 8790 87213.
Note to Editors: Fitch’s National ratings provide a relative measure of creditworthiness for rated entities in countries with relatively low international sovereign ratings and where there is demand for such ratings. The best risk within a country is rated ‘AAA’ and other credits are rated only relative to this risk. National ratings are designed for use mainly by local investors in local markets and are signified by the addition of an identifier for the country concerned, such as ‘AAA(tha)’ for National ratings in Thailand. Specific letter grades are not therefore internationally comparable.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Distress Ratio At Its Lowest Point In More Than Two Years, Article Says
After a protracted period of economic and financial stress that began in the second half of 2007, credit conditions appear favorable at the start of 2010, said an article published today by Standard & Poor's.
The speculative-grade corporate spread is now lower than at any point in 2009, closing at 586 basis points (bps) on Jan. 15. Along with this, the distress ratio is now solidly below its long-term average, at 10.4% as of Jan. 15. This is down from 14.6% in December, according to the article, titled "U.S. Distressed Debt Monitor: Distress Ratio Falls To 10%, An Optimistic Start To The New Year."
Standard & Poor's distress ratio is defined as the number of distressed securities divided by the total number of speculative-grade-rated issues. Distressed credits are speculative-grade-rated issues that have option-adjusted spreads of more than 1,000 bps relative to Treasuries.
"The homebuilders/real estate companies and insurance sectors are posting the highest debt-based distress ratios, at 75% and 28%, respectively," said Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research Group.
"In addition, the high technology sector has a debt-based distress ratio in excess of its traditional, issue-based measure," said Ms. Vazza. "This reveals that a disproportionate amount of speculative-grade debt in this sector is attributable to distressed companies."
This article is part of our premium Global Fixed Income Research content, which is available to premium subscribers to RatingsDirect on the Global Credit Portal at www.globalcreditportal.com and to RatingsDirect at www.ratingsdirect.com. Ratings information can also be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site by using the Ratings search box located in the left column at www.standardandpoors.com. Members of the media may request a copy of this report by contacting the media representative provided.
The speculative-grade corporate spread is now lower than at any point in 2009, closing at 586 basis points (bps) on Jan. 15. Along with this, the distress ratio is now solidly below its long-term average, at 10.4% as of Jan. 15. This is down from 14.6% in December, according to the article, titled "U.S. Distressed Debt Monitor: Distress Ratio Falls To 10%, An Optimistic Start To The New Year."
Standard & Poor's distress ratio is defined as the number of distressed securities divided by the total number of speculative-grade-rated issues. Distressed credits are speculative-grade-rated issues that have option-adjusted spreads of more than 1,000 bps relative to Treasuries.
"The homebuilders/real estate companies and insurance sectors are posting the highest debt-based distress ratios, at 75% and 28%, respectively," said Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research Group.
"In addition, the high technology sector has a debt-based distress ratio in excess of its traditional, issue-based measure," said Ms. Vazza. "This reveals that a disproportionate amount of speculative-grade debt in this sector is attributable to distressed companies."
This article is part of our premium Global Fixed Income Research content, which is available to premium subscribers to RatingsDirect on the Global Credit Portal at www.globalcreditportal.com and to RatingsDirect at www.ratingsdirect.com. Ratings information can also be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site by using the Ratings search box located in the left column at www.standardandpoors.com. Members of the media may request a copy of this report by contacting the media representative provided.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Thai futures exchange postpones trading of 10 baht gold futures
Thailand Futures Exchange PCL (TFEX) has postponed the launch of 10 baht gold futures to give the Gold Traders Association and Thailand Gold Retail Club more time to create understanding among various parties and prepare for trading the new product.
“TFEX has notified the Association and the Club about the origins, reasons and results from a discussion with its members, including five gold-related agents, all agree that trading 10 baht gold futures will provide more alternatives to investors of gold futures. Currently, over half of the investors in gold futures have traded in SET50 futures, so they are familiar with futures already,” revealed TFEX Managing Director Kesara Manchusree.
TFEX requested the Association and Club to help create understanding of this new product among its members and potential investors and noted that TFEX stood ready to provide both educational activities and business information. Currently, the Securities and Exchange Commission permits retail gold traders to operate both selling agent (SA) and introducing agent (IA).
All TFEX members have already invested in operating platforms for the 10 baht gold futures, and are under testing process in parallel with providing knowledge and marketing activities prior to trading this product. Therefore, the postponing the launch of this product will affect all TFEX members and more than 500,000 investors in the capital market. TFEX will have to clarify and request for collaboration from its members to explain this issues to investors about the reasons and necessities.
TFEX understands the pressures that gold shops face, including the economic recession, rising gold prices, online gold trading, and changing consumer behavior on buying and selling gold ornaments. TFEX will discuss the new launch date with its members and announce the date to the public,” concluded Ms. Kesara.
“TFEX has notified the Association and the Club about the origins, reasons and results from a discussion with its members, including five gold-related agents, all agree that trading 10 baht gold futures will provide more alternatives to investors of gold futures. Currently, over half of the investors in gold futures have traded in SET50 futures, so they are familiar with futures already,” revealed TFEX Managing Director Kesara Manchusree.
TFEX requested the Association and Club to help create understanding of this new product among its members and potential investors and noted that TFEX stood ready to provide both educational activities and business information. Currently, the Securities and Exchange Commission permits retail gold traders to operate both selling agent (SA) and introducing agent (IA).
All TFEX members have already invested in operating platforms for the 10 baht gold futures, and are under testing process in parallel with providing knowledge and marketing activities prior to trading this product. Therefore, the postponing the launch of this product will affect all TFEX members and more than 500,000 investors in the capital market. TFEX will have to clarify and request for collaboration from its members to explain this issues to investors about the reasons and necessities.
TFEX understands the pressures that gold shops face, including the economic recession, rising gold prices, online gold trading, and changing consumer behavior on buying and selling gold ornaments. TFEX will discuss the new launch date with its members and announce the date to the public,” concluded Ms. Kesara.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
New Generation Trading System for China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS) goes live nationwide
Tata Consultancy Services, the leading IT services, business solutions and outsourcing firm today announced that the Reminbi currency trading platform for the Chinese inter-bank market, an initiative of China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS), a subsidiary of People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has successfully gone live nationwide. The New Generation CNY Trading System (NGCNYTS) is a forward-looking trading system, which aims to incorporate the future vision of the Chinese Interbank market and relevant international best practices. It is designed to meet the fast growing requirements of the Chinese financial market with efficient risk management and real time monitoring systems. It supports multiple trading methods, including special features for market makers.
NGCNYTS is a next generation system providing unified platform across Debt, Money and Derivative Markets. NGCNYTS gained national importance, as it is the primary trading platform for all financial institutions such as Commercial Banks, Pension, Trust & Mutual Fund, Securities firms and Insurance companies in China.
Speaking on the successful implementation of this landmark project, Girija Pande, Executive Vice President and Head, TCS Asia Pacific, said, “We are extremely pleased to successfully deliver the CFETS project built based on our experience in other global markets and in close cooperation with CFETS who have experience in Chinese domestic market. It also provides flexibility to connect with third party front ends and other external interfaces. Deploying in ten markets at a time is a unique challenge which TCS could complete successfully.”
“The project is among the most prestigious venture of TCS in the APAC region, involving a highly dedicated multi-cultural team of over 130 associates spanning a period of more than 2 years. The team will be maintaining the system going forward and enhancing the system for additional markets,” he further added.
TCS’ trading solution at CFETS is scalable and can handle rapid growth in volumes with ease. Due to its scalable and configurable architecture, it also simplifies the addition of multiple financial products thus reducing the overall time to market.
Besides CFETS, TCS has successfully delivered the mission critical trading systems for the National Stock Exchange of India Limited, India, National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange, India and Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL). TCS is also the chosen strategic partner involved in maintaining the trading applications at Deutsche Boerse AG, Germany.
TCS pioneered the entry of Indian IT industry in China in 2002 and remains at the forefront of that thrust with 1100 consultants in China and four Global delivery Centres (Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin& Hangzhou). In 2005, TCS was invited by Chinese Government to form a Joint Venture to create a large scale global sourcing base in China. TCS China is serving over 30 Global and domestic clients like Eaton, Motorola, Cummins, China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS), Guangdong Provincial Rural Credit Cooperative Union (GDRCC), China Trust Bank, Hua Xia Bank.
NGCNYTS is a next generation system providing unified platform across Debt, Money and Derivative Markets. NGCNYTS gained national importance, as it is the primary trading platform for all financial institutions such as Commercial Banks, Pension, Trust & Mutual Fund, Securities firms and Insurance companies in China.
Speaking on the successful implementation of this landmark project, Girija Pande, Executive Vice President and Head, TCS Asia Pacific, said, “We are extremely pleased to successfully deliver the CFETS project built based on our experience in other global markets and in close cooperation with CFETS who have experience in Chinese domestic market. It also provides flexibility to connect with third party front ends and other external interfaces. Deploying in ten markets at a time is a unique challenge which TCS could complete successfully.”
“The project is among the most prestigious venture of TCS in the APAC region, involving a highly dedicated multi-cultural team of over 130 associates spanning a period of more than 2 years. The team will be maintaining the system going forward and enhancing the system for additional markets,” he further added.
TCS’ trading solution at CFETS is scalable and can handle rapid growth in volumes with ease. Due to its scalable and configurable architecture, it also simplifies the addition of multiple financial products thus reducing the overall time to market.
Besides CFETS, TCS has successfully delivered the mission critical trading systems for the National Stock Exchange of India Limited, India, National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange, India and Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL). TCS is also the chosen strategic partner involved in maintaining the trading applications at Deutsche Boerse AG, Germany.
TCS pioneered the entry of Indian IT industry in China in 2002 and remains at the forefront of that thrust with 1100 consultants in China and four Global delivery Centres (Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin& Hangzhou). In 2005, TCS was invited by Chinese Government to form a Joint Venture to create a large scale global sourcing base in China. TCS China is serving over 30 Global and domestic clients like Eaton, Motorola, Cummins, China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS), Guangdong Provincial Rural Credit Cooperative Union (GDRCC), China Trust Bank, Hua Xia Bank.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Thai bourse announces its four strategies for 2010
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) announced its four main strategies to strengthen the Thai exchange both in its quality and transaction volume to be a strong foundation for the Thai capital market and the nation’s long-term economic growth. These strategies are: 1) Enhancing the market quality and integrity; 2) Increasing liquidity; 3) Building foundation for future development and 4) Continue preparing for SET’s demutualization.
“SET Board of Governors approved SET’s next year plan, which follows its five year-strategic framework. In addition to following the four strategies, SET will continue to operate projects for the long-term development of the Thai capital market through the Capital Market Development Fund (CMDF),” revealed SET President, Patareeya Benjapolchai.
“SET will uplift the integrity of the Thai capital market by screening listed companies for transparency in management and disclosure, including implementing proactive measure in market surveillance and listing and disclosure by improving governance assessment measures, increasing transparency and build confidence of investors”
For transaction volume, SET aims at increasing market capitalization by THB100 billion from new listings. In addition, SET plans to launch new products, including THB10 gold futures in Q1/2010, interest rate futures in Q4/2010, and four more exchange-traded funds (ETFs), to increase investment opportunities and be risk management tools for investors,” said Ms. Patareeya. “Moreover, SET will increase the securities holding proportion of local institutional investors to 12-15% (As of June 2009, it was at 9.85%) of total market capitalization, to increase the Thai capital market’s stability. SET plans to have a daily average trading value at THB17.5-22.0 billion of total market capitalization and a daily average trading volume of SET50 Index Futures at 10,000-12,000 contracts,”
“SET will focus on increasing the number of listed companies with good management quality, transparency in disclosure and compliance with corporate governance principles. SET will encourage large companies or the subsidiaries of state enterprises to list, including prepare the readiness of capital market professionals, e.g., auditors or financial advisors, to support the disclosure-based listing starting in 2011, which aims at supporting medium and small-sized companies having growth potential and wanting to raise funds. Moreover, SET will promote the attraction of medium-sized companies in the eyes of investors and amend rules and regulations that obstruct listed companies’ fundraising processes,” disclosed SET Chief Marketing Officer, Issuer & Listing, Vichate Tantiwanich on the strategy to enhance the market quality and integrity.
“Aside from launching new products and increasing liquidity to the existing ones, SET will increase liquidity to medium-sized securities whose firms have had sustained impressive performance, increase the securities holding proportion of institutional investors, and increase transaction volume of institutional investors in the derivatives market. To reach its objectives, SET will develop channels and adjust its rules and regulations to facilitate institutional investors’ access, including encouraging Bank of Thailand to permit placing foreign currency as collateral to reduce cost and exchange rate risks, and increase flexibility for foreign institutional investors,” revealed Chief Marketing Officer, Markets & Post-trade Services, Sopawadee Lertmanaschai on the strategy to increase liquidity.
“The major plan in developing IT Master Plan, which will be accomplished in 2009, aims at enhancing the information technology of the securities industry to be able to increase business competitiveness and cross-border trading between the regional exchanges and other exchanges in other regions in the future. Through the ASEAN Linkage project in 2010, SET will work with its alliance exchanges intensively to develop systems supporting cross-border trading in Q1/2011. SET will be one of ASEAN exchanges to trade securities between exchanges through the ASEAN Linkage project; this will be the first such phenomenon in this region,” said SET Chief Operating Officer Nongram Wongwanich about the strategy to build foundation for future development.
Moreover, SET will increase cooperation with countries in Indochina in providing joint services, or dual listings, including revising rules to facilitate foreign companies which list on SET as their primary listing to be the gateway to Indochina as planned in the five-year strategies framework.
“In 2010, we will work on approval of laws on SET’s demutualization, together with building accurate understandings about the roles and SET’s demutualization to target groups and the general public. Besides, SET will work with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to define and delineate each other’s roles, and the governance structure after the demutualization to prevent conflict of interest,” revealed Chief Strategy Officer & Executive Director, Capital Market Research Institute, Veerathai Santiprabhob, PhD, about the preparations for SET’s demutualization, which is one of the eight measures of the Thai Capital Market Development Plan.
“At the same time, SET will be responsible for long-term capital market development to support the four strategies. This will be done through CMDF, which was established by SET to disseminate knowledge on investment and promote corporate governance and corporate social responsibility in the capital market, including supporting capital market-related research and build networks between academics and professionals in the capital market,” continued Ms. Patareeya.
“SET will promote corporate governance principles among listed companies, focusing on listed companies with prices lower than their book values, and encourage medium-sized companies to apply investor relations guidelines into action to create deeper understanding of firms among shareholders and investors,” Executive Director, Industry Development Center, Chaiyoot Chamnanlertkit.
“SET will work with commercial banks and the Thai Financial Planner Association in reaching out to savers, expanding the investor base by disseminating investment knowledge to bank customers through the campaign Wealth Manager @ Bank and Wealth Customer @ Bank. Currently, there are about 1.7 million bank accounts with the potential to invest. Besides, SET will organize the Modern Marketing campaign to enhance marketing officers’ quality to be able to give integrated advice on investment products and cooperate with Association of Securities Companies in promoting securities companies to develop their marketing officers’ skills in both quality and quantity,” SET Executive Director, Market Education Center, Punsak Vejanurug revealed.
“2010 will be a year of establishing a strong foundation to support a big change of the Thai capital market according to the Thai Capital Market Development Plan, both the demutualization of SET and the impending liberalization. SET strategies in 2010, therefore, focus on the operations that are in accordance with and support the Thai Capital Market Development Plan, in developing both quality and transaction volume, giving importance to responding to customers’ needs, e.g., listed companies, investors, and intermediaries, increasing SET effectiveness and business competitiveness and getting ready for demutualization to be a public company limited in 2011. These actions will make the Thai capital market an important mechanism driving the nation’s long-term economic growth,” concluded Ms. Patareeya.
“SET Board of Governors approved SET’s next year plan, which follows its five year-strategic framework. In addition to following the four strategies, SET will continue to operate projects for the long-term development of the Thai capital market through the Capital Market Development Fund (CMDF),” revealed SET President, Patareeya Benjapolchai.
“SET will uplift the integrity of the Thai capital market by screening listed companies for transparency in management and disclosure, including implementing proactive measure in market surveillance and listing and disclosure by improving governance assessment measures, increasing transparency and build confidence of investors”
For transaction volume, SET aims at increasing market capitalization by THB100 billion from new listings. In addition, SET plans to launch new products, including THB10 gold futures in Q1/2010, interest rate futures in Q4/2010, and four more exchange-traded funds (ETFs), to increase investment opportunities and be risk management tools for investors,” said Ms. Patareeya. “Moreover, SET will increase the securities holding proportion of local institutional investors to 12-15% (As of June 2009, it was at 9.85%) of total market capitalization, to increase the Thai capital market’s stability. SET plans to have a daily average trading value at THB17.5-22.0 billion of total market capitalization and a daily average trading volume of SET50 Index Futures at 10,000-12,000 contracts,”
“SET will focus on increasing the number of listed companies with good management quality, transparency in disclosure and compliance with corporate governance principles. SET will encourage large companies or the subsidiaries of state enterprises to list, including prepare the readiness of capital market professionals, e.g., auditors or financial advisors, to support the disclosure-based listing starting in 2011, which aims at supporting medium and small-sized companies having growth potential and wanting to raise funds. Moreover, SET will promote the attraction of medium-sized companies in the eyes of investors and amend rules and regulations that obstruct listed companies’ fundraising processes,” disclosed SET Chief Marketing Officer, Issuer & Listing, Vichate Tantiwanich on the strategy to enhance the market quality and integrity.
“Aside from launching new products and increasing liquidity to the existing ones, SET will increase liquidity to medium-sized securities whose firms have had sustained impressive performance, increase the securities holding proportion of institutional investors, and increase transaction volume of institutional investors in the derivatives market. To reach its objectives, SET will develop channels and adjust its rules and regulations to facilitate institutional investors’ access, including encouraging Bank of Thailand to permit placing foreign currency as collateral to reduce cost and exchange rate risks, and increase flexibility for foreign institutional investors,” revealed Chief Marketing Officer, Markets & Post-trade Services, Sopawadee Lertmanaschai on the strategy to increase liquidity.
“The major plan in developing IT Master Plan, which will be accomplished in 2009, aims at enhancing the information technology of the securities industry to be able to increase business competitiveness and cross-border trading between the regional exchanges and other exchanges in other regions in the future. Through the ASEAN Linkage project in 2010, SET will work with its alliance exchanges intensively to develop systems supporting cross-border trading in Q1/2011. SET will be one of ASEAN exchanges to trade securities between exchanges through the ASEAN Linkage project; this will be the first such phenomenon in this region,” said SET Chief Operating Officer Nongram Wongwanich about the strategy to build foundation for future development.
Moreover, SET will increase cooperation with countries in Indochina in providing joint services, or dual listings, including revising rules to facilitate foreign companies which list on SET as their primary listing to be the gateway to Indochina as planned in the five-year strategies framework.
“In 2010, we will work on approval of laws on SET’s demutualization, together with building accurate understandings about the roles and SET’s demutualization to target groups and the general public. Besides, SET will work with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to define and delineate each other’s roles, and the governance structure after the demutualization to prevent conflict of interest,” revealed Chief Strategy Officer & Executive Director, Capital Market Research Institute, Veerathai Santiprabhob, PhD, about the preparations for SET’s demutualization, which is one of the eight measures of the Thai Capital Market Development Plan.
“At the same time, SET will be responsible for long-term capital market development to support the four strategies. This will be done through CMDF, which was established by SET to disseminate knowledge on investment and promote corporate governance and corporate social responsibility in the capital market, including supporting capital market-related research and build networks between academics and professionals in the capital market,” continued Ms. Patareeya.
“SET will promote corporate governance principles among listed companies, focusing on listed companies with prices lower than their book values, and encourage medium-sized companies to apply investor relations guidelines into action to create deeper understanding of firms among shareholders and investors,” Executive Director, Industry Development Center, Chaiyoot Chamnanlertkit.
“SET will work with commercial banks and the Thai Financial Planner Association in reaching out to savers, expanding the investor base by disseminating investment knowledge to bank customers through the campaign Wealth Manager @ Bank and Wealth Customer @ Bank. Currently, there are about 1.7 million bank accounts with the potential to invest. Besides, SET will organize the Modern Marketing campaign to enhance marketing officers’ quality to be able to give integrated advice on investment products and cooperate with Association of Securities Companies in promoting securities companies to develop their marketing officers’ skills in both quality and quantity,” SET Executive Director, Market Education Center, Punsak Vejanurug revealed.
“2010 will be a year of establishing a strong foundation to support a big change of the Thai capital market according to the Thai Capital Market Development Plan, both the demutualization of SET and the impending liberalization. SET strategies in 2010, therefore, focus on the operations that are in accordance with and support the Thai Capital Market Development Plan, in developing both quality and transaction volume, giving importance to responding to customers’ needs, e.g., listed companies, investors, and intermediaries, increasing SET effectiveness and business competitiveness and getting ready for demutualization to be a public company limited in 2011. These actions will make the Thai capital market an important mechanism driving the nation’s long-term economic growth,” concluded Ms. Patareeya.
LCH.Clearnet’s OTC SwapClear service clears one millionth trade
SwapClear, LCH.Clearnet Limited’s (LCH.Clearnet) market leading OTC interest rate swap clearing service, has cleared its millionth trade, taking the notional value of trades in SwapClear to US$206 trillion.
Launched in 1999, SwapClear currently clears 64% of the global interbank interest rate swap market and the range of products cleared has been extended to include overnight index swaps of up to two years in four currencies and interest rate swaps in tenors of up to 30 years in up to 14 currencies.
Joe Reilly, Director, SwapClear, LCH.Clearnet said; “SwapClear’s continued success demonstrates the market demand for effective and robust clearing services for vanilla OTC products. For 10 years, SwapClear has successfully mitigated risk and provided operational efficiencies in the OTC interest rate swap market.”
The resilience of SwapClear’s default management process was demonstrated in September 2008 when it successfully handled Lehman’s $9 trillion interest rate swap default. The highly effective default management process ensured that 66,390 trades were hedged and auctioned off to other clearing members in a timely fashion and that the default was managed well within the margin held and with no recourse to the default fund.
Further developments are planned for SwapClear, including extensions to tenors to up to 50 years in some of the 14 currencies currently cleared and a service tailored for the buy-side.
LCH.Clearnet Limited is both a Financial Services Authority (FSA) Recognised Clearing House and a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) registered Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO).
Launched in 1999, SwapClear currently clears 64% of the global interbank interest rate swap market and the range of products cleared has been extended to include overnight index swaps of up to two years in four currencies and interest rate swaps in tenors of up to 30 years in up to 14 currencies.
Joe Reilly, Director, SwapClear, LCH.Clearnet said; “SwapClear’s continued success demonstrates the market demand for effective and robust clearing services for vanilla OTC products. For 10 years, SwapClear has successfully mitigated risk and provided operational efficiencies in the OTC interest rate swap market.”
The resilience of SwapClear’s default management process was demonstrated in September 2008 when it successfully handled Lehman’s $9 trillion interest rate swap default. The highly effective default management process ensured that 66,390 trades were hedged and auctioned off to other clearing members in a timely fashion and that the default was managed well within the margin held and with no recourse to the default fund.
Further developments are planned for SwapClear, including extensions to tenors to up to 50 years in some of the 14 currencies currently cleared and a service tailored for the buy-side.
LCH.Clearnet Limited is both a Financial Services Authority (FSA) Recognised Clearing House and a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) registered Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO).
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