Integration of Southeast Asian Stock Exchanges Hits Snag

Just months before stock exchanges in Southeast Asia plan to link up their trading, key players remain divided, with one top bourse official saying the region may be going through a “reality check” on the many hurdles facing further economic integration. The plan for cross-border trading among the exchanges in the region is part of a grander scheme for some form of economic community within the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations by 2015. But the initiative has already faced some setbacks, with several exchanges’ decisions to participate in the trading link pending. …. Through the so-called “Asean Trading Link,” investors will be able to buy and sell shares in any of the participating markets while settling the transactions in their home market. The seven exchanges—including two in Vietnam —are estimated to have a combined market capitalization of roughly $2 trillion, bringing them closer to stock markets in Hong Kong and Shanghai. …

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