Top Story: Invest ASEAN 2013 To Educate Retail Investors On ASEAN Opportunities
Following the successful rollout of the ASEAN Trading Link, the CEOs of ASEAN Exchanges today announced the schedule for Invest ASEAN 2013 roadshow, to promote and create greater awareness of the ASEAN capital market. The announcement was made at the 17th ASEAN Exchanges CEOs meeting hosted by Bursa Malaysia in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. Invest ASEAN 2013 will showcase ASEAN Stars, the 30 most exciting companies from each country, provide investors the exclusive access to public listed companies of ASEAN Exchanges, market and sector outlook as well feature a panel discussion amongst analysts on market outlook and stock picks.
HIGHLIGHTS:
- The Invest ASEAN 2013 investment roadshow will make its debut rollout in three ASEAN cities starting with Bangkok on 12 January 2013 thereafter in Singapore on 2 February 2013 and in Kuala Lumpur on 2 March 2013. More details to follow in a separate note.
- SFC: Asian banks 'stupid to ignore mistakes of western regulation' - Ashley Alder, CE of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), said Asian regulators and the finance industry must engage with global regulatory reform to ensure that their own financial systems could develop smoothly and to protect regional interests. Mr Alder told a regulatory conference in Hong Kong that the Asian financial industry needed to understand the mistakes of the West as local markets grew and became more sophisticated. He said that if Asian regulators and industry did not engage with the reform being driven by the US and Europe, they risked having their own interests trampled upon.
- Asia-Pacific Regional Committee (APRC) of IOSCO meets in Bangkok, Thailand on Nov 29 - Members of the Asia-Pacific Regional Committee (APRC) of International Organization of Securities Commission (IOSCO) met in Bangkok, Thailand during November 28-30, 2012. The current Chairman of the APRC is Mr. U.K. Sinha, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India. The meeting underscored the likely strong growth of securities markets in the future and the importance of securities regulators engaging with one another both at the global and at the regional level; with a view to continue their efforts in ensuring safety, integrity and transparency of securities markets and to develop a well-coordinated and forward-looking response to emerging and evolving developments.
Market Development
BSP: Infra, rules key to market integration | Business World, Nov 29
Capital market infrastructure -- the payments and settlements system, and intermediation and exchange linkages -- must be enhanced to cope with the new market, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo said during the last day of the four-day annual conference of the Federation of ASEAN Economics Association in Pasay City yesterday. The region must likewise harmonize its regulatory frameworks and standards for disclosures and credit ratings. Lastly, the ASEAN must develop and promote its capital market products. One example is the FTSE/ASEAN index, which measures the performance of the bourses of Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
RI: Private sector key for infrastructure development | Jakarta Post, Nov 29
National Development Planning Minister Armida S. Alisjahbana, who is also the head of the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), has called for greater participation from the private sector and local governments in the development of Indonesia's infrastructure. Armida believed that Indonesia could grow 7 percent annually if the country had at least 5 percent infrastructure-to-gross domestic product (GDP) spending, which currently stood at 4.7 percent.
S&P: Subdued regional economy will suppress rental growth for A-P REITs | The Edge, Nov 29
Asia-Pacific real estate investment trusts (REITs) will be wrestling with dampening tenant demand due to subdued business and consumer confidence arising from the expected slowdown in the region's economies in the next few months, according to Standard & Poor's Ratings Services (S&P). It said this in a report entitle "For Asia-Pacific REITs, Weak Regional Economy Will Keep A Lid On Rental Growth" released on Thursday. Nevertheless, S&P forecast that a pick-up in regional growth in the later part of 2013 would gradually boost demand from tenants.
Market Regulation
IMF: Capital controls can be 'useful' | Business World, Dec 3
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has relaxed its opposition to capital controls, recognizing it as one of the tools countries can use to address volatility brought about by portfolio investments. The change in stance, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) chief yesterday said, is a result of the new global order. "This is a big change from the original position of the IMF, which is that member countries should avoid capital controls," central bank Governor Amando M. Tetangco, Jr. told reporters.
BSP relaxes rules on 2 investment instruments | Philstar, Nov 30
The relaxation of the rules is targeted at broadening investment opportunities to deepen the capital market, a BSP statement said yesterday. Long-term negotiable certificates of time deposit (LNCTD) and unsecured subordinated debts may soon be issued by financial institutions licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) but not supervised by BSP. LNCTDs are like time deposits except that they have longer terms and cannot be pre-terminated. Unsecured subordinated debts, meanwhile, pertain to bonds or other types of instruments extended without collateral.
Private Equity
Global private equity firms eyeing Southeast Asia | ChannelNewsAsia, Nov 27
More global private equity firms have been setting up offices in Southeast Asia, and the funds raised in the region are expected to grow at an annual rate of 30 per cent over the next three years. Private equity investors are also likely to cast the spotlight on Singapore, Indonesia and China.
Southeast Asia's growth story lures investors | WSJ, Dec 3
Investors hungry for higher returns are homing in on the fast-growing economies of Southeast Asia. In particular, they are focusing on the Philippines and Thailand, where stock-market gains have outpaced the rest of Asia this year. The Philippines' benchmark stock index is up 29.8%, and Thailand's is up 30%, compared with a 13.1% increase through Friday in the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index, an Asia-wide benchmark.
Insurance
Insurers pour into Southeast Asia | WSJ, Nov 28
Southeast Asia's attraction is clear: Life-insurance premiums in the region are expected to increase 6.6% next year as an expanding middle class seeks to protect its rising living standards, according to estimates from reinsurer Swiss Re, compared with a sluggish 2.3% expected in the more mature U.S. market.
Banking
RI banks not ready for ASEAN turf, says BI | Jakarta Post, Dec 4
Indonesian banks are not yet ready to compete head-to-head with their counterparts in Southeast Asia due to the lack of capital and inefficiency in their operations, a top official at Bank Indonesia (BI) says. "If ASEAN banking integration were to begin now, we would lose due to our banks' low capital and general operational inefficiency," BI Deputy Governor Halim Alamsyah said on Monday at the central bank's headquarters in Jakarta. He attributed this to the fact that Indonesian banks still had high cost-to-income ratios (BOPO), a measurement of a bank's efficiency, which stood at 74.26 percent as of September, according to BI data.
RI banks' IT systems ready for branchless banking | Jakarta post, Nov 30
Local banks say that their information technology (IT) systems are ready to implement branchless banking by 2013, although they are waiting for the central bank to issue a needed regulation on providing banking services outside traditional branches. Bank Indonesia (BI) has been pushing programs that promote financial inclusion to solve a perennial problem of providing formal financial services to people living in remote and under-served areas of the archipelago.