PSE suspends trading

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Stock Exchange suspended trading on Tuesday as heavy rains that flooded most of Metro Manila prompted a suspension of government offices, including the country’s central payments and clearing system.

“We are suspending trading since Philpass of BSP [Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas] is not clearing,” PSE president Hans Sicat said in a text message early Tuesday.

This was followed by another PSE advisory: “Due to the inclement weather and the suspension of clearing at the Philippine Clearing House Corp. today, please be advised that there will be no trading at the PSE and no clearing and settlement at the SCCP (Securities Clearing Corp. of the Philippines) today, August 7, 2012.”

PhilPASS or the Philippine Payments and Settlements System or PhilPaSS is the system name where both processing and final settlement of fund transfer instructions can take continuously in real time. The settlement process is based on real time transfer of central bank money.

SCCP or “Clearinghouse”is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the PSE and is under the regulatory supervision of the Securities and Exchange Commission. SCCP serves as a clearing and settlement agency for all trades executed in the exchange.