A central online trading platform expected to launch by the end of the year will allow investors to trade securities listed on the local stock market using a desktop computer or smartphone.

Lamun Soleil, director of market operations at the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX), said the bourse is developing a Mobile Trading System (MTS) that will serve as a central web-based platform for local securities firms and their clients. He said brokerages will be charged a fee to use the service, which he claims will be more cost-effective than developing their own online trading platform.

“To save the cost for each securities firm and the market, our MTS is one that can be used by all securities firm,” he said. “They are expected to pay a regular fee, which is much lower than if they each developed their own MTS.”

Subscription to the service is optional, and securities firms are free to develop their own proprietary online trading platforms, he added.

The MTS is being developed with technical assistance from Korea International Cooperation Agency and expected to be operational by the end of the year.

Soleil explained that investors with an account at a local securities firm that subscribes to the service will be able to access their account information and place trade orders on stocks listed on the CSX using a desktop computer or via a web browser on a smartphone.

“Investors will have instant access to the market on their smartphone [when] connected to the internet,” he said. “Investors can instantly buy or sell stocks, view real-time market data and listed companies’ information, view their cash and securities balance, and so on.”

Soleil said international stock exchanges were increasingly driven by online trading and many of the region’s bourses, including the Korea Exchange and the Stock Exchange of Thailand, have already implemented MTS platforms. He added that the online platform will help increase the efficiency of the order process and reduce the number of transaction errors made by brokers.

“The processing of orders will be faster and more efficient,” he said. “Brokers will also face less risk related to order submission since investors will place orders by themselves.”

Layheng Sip, head of operations at SBI Royal Securities, said the launch of the MTS will allow investors to execute trades more conveniently than by traditional trading methods.

“Our clients [currently] send purchase or sell orders via email, phone, or at the counter,” she said. “We believe that MTS will benefit the client, market and securities firms. It will help to increase trading volume as clients will find it more convenient to manage trade orders.”

Launched in 2011, the CSX has five listed companies: Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PWSA), Grand Twin International, Phnom Penh Autonomous Port (PPAP), Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone (PPSP) and Sihanoukville Autonomous Port (PAS).