The Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC) is planning new measures for trading on the local stock exchange that it says will encourage investors to trade more actively.

Investors currently need to wait for six intervals – occurring every half-hour between 8.30am and 11.30am – to have their trades booked. The new rules will allow for continuous trading between 9am and 11am.

“[Increasing] matching frequency will make investors more active, so that the matching can push market liquidity as investors now can do more trades and be more active,” Sok Dara deputy director of the SECC, told the Post yesterday.

Additionally, to encourage more activity, trades will be settled on the same day, as opposed to the current system that sees buyers waiting two days for the transfer of securities and sellers two days for their cash.

According to Lamun Soleil, deputy director of the exchange’s Market Operations Department, the shift in settlement time will allow investors to trade more frequently with cash and securities more readily available.

“The ultimate purpose of these measures is to increase trading activities on the market,” he said. “With these two more features, our market could become as active as other more advanced exchanges.”

Soleil could not give a specific date for the changes, but said the technical details were currently being completed.