The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Group will implement three major strategies to achieve its vision of being a prestigious and trustworthy market with a pool of liquidity and a competent team promoting innovative products and services to meet stakeholders’ expectations.
These three strategies are: 1) Building organizational strength; 2) Efficiency enhancement; 3) Achieving trustworthiness. Building organizational strength entails increasing SET’s global competitiveness and ensuring that the Group’s personnel can smoothly adjust to change. Efficiency enhancement involves lifting service quality for relevant parties such as listed firms, securities companies, investors and other related organizations. The Exchange will continue to develop a national investment culture and introduce more products and services in response to investor demand. Achieving trustworthiness requires that the Group work closely with its domestic and overseas allies.
SET will restructure the Group’s business units so that each will have a realistic cost-revenue structure, provide better service and focus on personnel development, which is a key driver for the whole Group.
“Domestically, the Group will be a more efficient fundraising channel for businesses and a major pillar of the Thai economic system. In addition to facilitating fundraisers and market participants, we will serve our customers and related organizations more effectively. Internationally, we will be more competitive by offering increased product choices in a cost-effective manner. We will also gain strength from our networks with other regional exchanges,” SET President Ms. Patareeya Benjapolchai said.
In 2008, in regard to supply, SET Group has a target of 37 new listings, made up of 25 companies listing on SET and 12 on Market for Alternative Investment (mai). Initiatives in the pipeline include stock options, a product with FTSE SET Index series as its underlying index and transferable custody receipts (TCRs). In addition, the clearing and settlement period will be cut from three to two business days after transactions (from T+3 to T+2). A front-office system for repurchase (REPO) transactions will also be developed. On the demand side, the Group will increase the number of securities and unit trusts holders by 5%.
Group executives have assumed specific strategic and planning responsibilities. Thailand Securities Depository Co., Ltd. CEO Ms. Sopawadee Lertmanaschai, who is responsible for competitiveness enhancement, said that the Group would be restructured internally to increase operational efficiency and flexibility. Operations will be based on a value chain and entail the efficient management of fees to reflect a realistic cost-revenue structure. Technology will enhance efficiency in areas such as trading system integration, post-trade automation and inter-market surveillance projects.
SET Executive Vice President Mr. Vichate Tantiwanich, responsible for efficiency enhancement, noted that the strategy will involve value creation and eliminating listing impediments. SET will lobby for corporate tax incentives and provide experts to help listed firms use the capital market more effectively by, for example, issuing shares in capital increase, warrants or bonds. This will not only benefit firms but also boost the market’s capitalization and attractiveness. In addition, investment channels will be expanded through market intermediaries and alliances, e.g., securities and asset management firms, and commercial banks and insurance companies.
In regard to investment culture development strategies, SET will target three main groups—working, pre-retirement and post-retirement. The Employee Joint Investment Program (EJIP) is aimed at the working population, and provides financial planning education and securities investment promotion. For pre- and post-retirement groups, there will be several activities in Bangkok and the provinces to increase their financial understanding and access to the capital market, Capital Market Education Division Chairman Mr. Punsak Vejanurug said.
The bourse will also bring forward issuance of the initial public offering (IPO rule) regarding share distribution, so shares and investment opportunity are made available to the general public.
SET Senior Vice President Mr. Supakit Jirapraditkul is responsible for product strategy.
The Exchange aims to be trustworthy, transparent and a model of good corporate governance. The information disclosure system will be more transparent and involve public hearings and recommendations. The Group will reduce impediments to capital market development by collaborating with relevant organizations in policy-making. It will become one of Thailand’s key economic representatives and play a greater role in the ASEAN region, SET Executive Vice President Ms. Nongram Wongwanich explained.
“These strategic plans will give the Group a stronger infrastructure, produce more products and services suited to customers’ needs and equip it to compete in the regional marketplace,” Ms. Patareeya concluded.
