Presently, Japan Securities Clearing Corporation (JSCC) handles clearing for cash transactions of stock certificates and other securities for TSE. These costs are included in the fixed rate fees TSE collects from trading participants, which TSE then remits to JSCC in the form of clearing fees.
JSCC announced from the time of its establishment that "when appropriate, JSCC will collect clearing fees directly from clearing participants." Following this, JSCC will start to collect clearing fees directly from clearing participants starting in November of this year.
In order to avoid excessive fees for participants, TSE will reduce fixed rate fees by the amount that participants will pay directly to JSCC in the form of clearing fees.
For stock certificates, TSE collects as fixed rate fees between 0.0023% and 0.0026% of the trading value and from those fees remits 0.0006% of the trading value as clearing fees to JSCC.
Starting in November of this year when JSCC begins to collect clearing fees directly, trading participants and clearing participants will pay fees to TSE and JSCC separately.
Reduced fixed rate fees will take effect in conjunction with JSCC direct collection starting with November 4 trading.
Acquisition of treasury stocks
As part of its capital strategy for listing its stock in FY2005, which is set out in the company's business objectives, TSE decided at its General Meeting of Shareholders on June 24 to acquire treasury stock at a maximum of 300,000 shares and for a total maximum price of 8.5 billion yen. Based on this, 218,900 shares with a total acquisition price of 6,083,231,000 yen were acquired after approval at the TSE Board of Directors Meeting in August.
At the September Board of Directors Meeting it was decided that of the shareholders who approved the acquisition at the General Meeting of Shareholders, stock will be acquired from those who agreed with the final acquisition terms after the August meeting. TSE will acquire 65,000 shares on September 30 at a total acquisition price of 1,806,350,000 yen.
This newest acquisition brings TSE's total acquisition of treasury stocks, including last month's acquisition, to 283,900 shares at 7,889,581,000 yen.
Commencement of calculation of Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers Index and TOPIX 1000
At the end of this year Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers market will mark four years since its establishment in 1999, and the number of listed companies has expanded to 56. There has been an especially marked increase in the number of listed companies since the latter half of last year. As of September 16, the number of companies that listed this year was 16. Combined with the 22 companies that already had listing approval, this surpasses the previous record of 27 companies in 2000, indicating vigorous development of the market. Additionally, while Mothers-listed companies comprised only a single-digit share of the number of IPO companies in the nation for the past two years, this year they have exceeded over 20% of the share.
This growth is perceived to be a result of such factors as heightened understanding of the purported endeavors of the Comprehensive TSE Mothers Revitalization Program introduced in spring of last year, and a positive growth cycle prompted by an improvement in the image of the Mothers market after the listing of well-regarded companies in the latter half of last year.
In response to the abovementioned expansion of the TSE Mothers market and increased needs for indices that reflect overall market price fluctuations, TSE launched the calculation and publication of the TSE Mothers market index on September 16.
Starting on the same day, TSE added the calculation and publication of TOPIX1000 to its lineup of new indices including Core30, TOPIX100, and TOPIX500. In indexing operations it has become critical to minimize tracking errors, and it is expected that TOPIX1000, with its component stocks selected based on liquidity and market capitalization, will enable more efficient fund management. Additionally, the Tokyo Stock Exchange REIT Index, which began in April of this year and provided closing prices, began dissemination on a real-time basis on the same date of September 16.
International conference attendance
The East Asian and Oceanian Stock Exchanges Federation (EAOSEF) is comprised of 15 stock exchanges in East Asia and Oceania and holds a General Assembly meeting every spring at rotating venues. This year the General Assembly was planned for April in Shanghai at the invitation of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, but was postponed due to the spread of SARS throughout Asia. The Working Committee meeting to be held on September 19 includes a routine discussion about markets in member countries, a survey of corporate governance in member exchanges' countries, and reports on "Management and Future Directions of Market Information in Exchanges" and "Survey of Impediments to Cross-Border Trading."
The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) is an international organization comprised of 56 major stock exchanges around the world and holds a General Assembly & Annual Meeting every autumn at which stock exchanges representing the world gather. The current WFE President is Richard Grasso of the New York Stock Exchange and President Tsuchida of TSE serves as the current WFE Vice-President. This year's General Assembly & Annual Meeting will be held at the invitation of the New York Stock Exchange from October 12 to 14 in New York City. Issues such as admitting derivatives exchanges into the organization and corporate governance will be discussed at the WFE Working Committee Meeting. The post-meeting Seminar Session includes speeches and discussions on the topics including self-regulation of stock exchanges, stock exchange business, management of stock exchanges, and current issues in stock exchanges in areas around the world. Next year's General Assembly & Annual Meeting will be held in Tokyo in October at the invitation of TSE.
TSE hopes to strengthen ties of friendship with stock exchanges in various countries and heighten TSE's international presence through attending these international conferences.
