PSE readies online trading platform

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Stock Exchange plans to roll out an online trading platform for participants in the second semester, in a bid to widen investor base without the broker-dealers having to shell out a lot of money to develop their own solutions.

In a briefing on Friday, PSE president Hans Sicat said the PSE was now in the process of soliciting proposals from local and international solution providers to set up the platform. There are about 15 providers invited to submit proposals to the exchange, he said.

To date, most trades in the country are still done via phone calls or physical interaction with stockbrokers or agents. The program, called Online Service Bureau, seeks to take advantage of the Internet and the continuous growth of online transactions by allowing investors to place their orders to their brokers online.

Sicat said the OSB would effectively serve as facilitator/aggregator for a technology provider. “The idea is for them to provide the broker-dealer and their own subscribers an online platform that they can get from theirs PC, iPad or their phones.”

The rollout will take place about six months from the time a contract is awarded, Sicat said. The launch, he said, would likely be held by the third or fourth quarter of the year.

The PSE chief said it would be up to the trading participants whether or not they would subscribe to this service.

To date, 10 to 15 trading participants out of the 133 active brokerage houses have developed their proprietary online trading platform. These include CitisecOnline.com and First Metro Securities.—Doris C. Dumlao