The 20th ASEAN Exchanges CEOs meeting held here today concluded with a milestone agreement regarding custody and settlement services on the ASEAN Trading Link. In the pursuit to develop an integrated ASEAN capital market, ASEAN Exchanges have appointed Deutsche Bank for custody and settlement services. This will mark yet another key milestone since the rollout of the ASEAN Trading Link in September 2012.
Ito Warsito, Chief Executive Officer, Indonesia Stock Exchange said, “ASEAN Exchanges have made significant progress in meeting several key milestones in our effort to promote the integration of the ASEAN capital market.”
“We are focused on delivering on our four implementation pillars which are: driving cross border collaboration; streamlining access to ASEAN; creating ASEAN centric products and implementing targeted promotional initiatives. We are delighted to note that the promotion of ASEAN as one asset class has also taken a life of its own with a number of broker led initiatives, a continuation from our Invest ASEAN events”, continued Mr. Ito.
Tajuddin Atan, Chief Executive Officer, Bursa Malaysia said the appointment of a custody and settlement services provider is an important development. “We can now provide streamlined and cost-effective post-trade procedures for cross-border transactions conducted via the ASEAN Trading Link.”
The ASEAN Exchanges will nevertheless continue to improve the post trade services. Since the launch of ASEAN Exchanges in Bali in April 2011, a number of key initiatives have been rolled out. Some of these include the ASEAN Trading Link, the ASEAN Stars and the Invest ASEAN retail roadshow. Collectively, these initiatives have created significant awareness of ASEAN as an attractive location for retail and institutional investors.
The seven ASEAN Exchanges have a combined market capitalisation of approximately USD2.90 trillion and more than 3,600 companies listed on their exchanges. These companies include some of the largest and most dynamic companies in the world, encompassing various sectors such as banking and finance, energy, telecommunications, commodities and manufacturing.