TFEX and TCH jointly announced that their boards of directors held meetings on August 29, 2005 and resolved, in principle, that 20 qualified companies could become TFEX and TCH members. These new members are required to participate in the system test in coming October.
TFEX MD Ms. Kesara Manchusree reported that, “The boards viewed that these qualified companies had shown their determination to operate in the derivatives business and that the firms had already prepared their infrastructures to an acceptable pre-start level. Therefore, the boards are confident that these 20 firms will greatly contribute to the development of Thailand’s futures’ market.
“As for the remaining 12 applicants, TFEX will allow more time for them to reach the same level of preparedness reached by the 20 already-approved firms. TFEX will review the qualifications of these remaining applicant firms again within the next 6 months. Then, after Thailand’s futures market becomes operational, if there are any additional qualified applicants, they will be permitted to start operating as futures brokers.”
She also added that: “To make the admission process more transparent, the TFEX board has appointed an Admission Committee comprised of experts in the capital and derivatives markets as well as other fields. The committee has been configured with the right mix of experts to enable it to more realistically consider the applicants’ qualifications in all aspects.
“The 20 qualified members will have to further proceed to meet all membership requirements of both TFEX and TCH. These include getting licensed from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and actively participating in the system test in October. TFEX will train its new members on order sending as well as post-trade processing starting in September. After training, TFEX’s and TCH’s members will be more than ready when the futures market opens,” she concluded.
