SERC director-general Sou Socheat (centre left) shakes hands and exchanges signed copies of the agreement with ACLEDA Securities Plc president Prom Visoth at the ceremony on July 20. ACLEDA
The Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia (SERC) and brokerage firm ACLEDA Securities Plc have decided to link the latter’s online Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) trading account opening system with the former’s digital Investor ID platform, in an effort to draw more investors to the Kingdom’s burgeoning capital market and make entry easier.
An agreement was penned to this effect on July 20 by ACLEDA Securities president and CEO Prom Visoth and SERC director-general Sou Socheat, who noted that roughly three-fifths of all Investor IDs issued by the regulator as of end-June were requested by ACLEDA Securities alone.
At the accompanying signing ceremony, Visoth commented that the partnership would enable individual investors to conveniently request the necessary Investor ID and then open a CSX trading account without ever having to approach a counter.
This, he said, would entice more investors to the Cambodian securities scene, catalysing greater liquidity in the market as well as trading activity, and thereby motivating more companies to issue financial instruments.
At the same event, SERC’s Socheat hailed ACLEDA Securities’ “active involvement” in the development of the capital market, disclosing that the company has requested 25,291 – or 60.23 per cent – of the total 41,994 Investor IDs as of June 30.
Expectations that this rate will remain high underscore the value of the partnership in the context of Cambodia’s digital-government agenda, as the Kingdom moves into the digital age, he stressed.
“The SERC has consistently placed a premium on the creation of new financial instruments that can be implemented through cutting-edge technologies, the protection of the interests of all securities market participants, and the timely and convenient delivery of services,” he said.
Socheat reaffirmed the commitment of the regulator and stakeholders to bolstering digital transactions, and expressed hope that securities companies and other interested parties would contribute to the development of the Kingdom’s technological infrastructure.
He recapped that the SERC rolled out its online Investor ID system earlier this year, allowing interested parties to forego in-person meetings and paperwork, and that its new “one-stop” partnership with ACLEDA Securities will make it easier for many to open a CSX trading account.
Meanwhile, the CSX has unveiled numerous goals for 2023, including doubling the number of new securities listings to 14 and the average daily trading value to $1 million, the latter of which would result in a third straight year of record highs.
With “over 5,000” new trading accounts created in 2022 – as per the “CSX 2022 Achievements, Outlook, and Plans for 2023” bulletin – the bourse hopes to triple that figure this year.
The stock exchange also reported that 222 billion riel ($55.5 million) in capital was raised last year – up 133 per cent over 2021 – with corporate and sovereign bonds representing 63 per cent and 32 per cent, respectively.
On June 27, CSX CEO Hong Sok Hour revealed that in May, 100,000 shares worth $300,000 changed hands each day on average. According to him, there were 6,000 active investors in May, up from 5,000 a month earlier.
“In keeping with the government’s goal of having an ‘upper-middle income’ economy by 2030, we have big ambitions to boost the market and achieve an average daily trading volume of over $100 million by 2030,” he disclosed.
The CSX is co-owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Korea Exchange (KRX) on a 55:45 basis.
