Gov’t urges stock, bond exchanges to merge

Cai U. Ordinario

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Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima says a merger will result in lower expenses for the exchanges, and lower fees for market players

WILLING NINONG. The government is urging the stock and bond exchanges to merge within President Aquino's term. Photo by Cai Ordinario

MANILA, Philippines – The government is urging the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) and the Philippine Dealing and Exchange (PDEx) to merge within President Benigno Aquino III’s term. 

In a speech at the launch of the Asia Bond Monitor of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday, March 18, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said the merger would result in lower expenses for both exchanges and contribute greatly to deepening the capital market.

Shares of stocks of companies are traded in the PSE, and government securities such as Treasury bonds and bills are traded in PDEx. 

“We’re encouraging the Philippine Stock Exchange and PDEx to see if it’s to their interest, to their commercial interest, to merge. We believe the merger of the two will be desirable,” Purisima said. “A more efficient structure will require a stronger stock exchange with deeper volumes. And that’s why we would like to see [the merger] within the term of President Aquino.”

Willing ‘ninong

Purisima said the national government would be a willing “ninong (godfather) in a matchmaking” between the PSE and PDEx. He encouraged the two institutions to continue talking.

“They are private entities and we don’t have equity in there but we’re like the ninong. We believe that a merger will make them more efficient, stronger,” Purisima said.

A single trading platform would not only reduce the exchanges’ costs, but also result in lower transaction fees for market players, noted the finance chief.

However, when asked if the government is willing to extend the exchanges incentives for the merger, Purisima only smiled and said, “we’ll give them words of wisdom.”

Exploratory talks

PSE President Hans Sicat said on the sidelines of the ADB event that while there are exploratory talks between PSE and PDEx, a lot of “structural” issues need to be resolved. 

Sicat acknowledged what Purisima said about the benefits of the merger, but he could not say whether talks would prosper within the term of President Aquino. 

“We’re beginning to review things again. (There are) the structural items (we need to deal with). Of course what he (Purisma) said from the conceptual point of view makes sense (but) we have to do our homework first,” Sicat said. – Rappler.com

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