The CSX reported that 222 billion riel ($55.5 million) in capital was raised last year – up 133 per cent from 2021 – with corporate and sovereign bonds accounting for 63 per cent and 32 per cent, respectively. Hong Menea
Prospects are bright for a pickup in activity in the Cambodian securities market after the Non-Banking Financial Services Authority (NBFSA) issued a prakas that formally authorised the issuance of Collective Investment Scheme (CIS) fund units.
The NBFSA’s Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia (SERC) revealed this in a July 26 statement, noting that the prakas was signed by Minister of Economy and Finance Aun Pornmoniroth and dated July 20.
A CIS is an arrangement that allows fund management companies to establish investment vehicles and raise money from investors to channel into specific projects, with profits or benefits distributed to the backers.
In an interview with The Post on July 30, SERC director-general Sou Socheat describe the formal CIS market as a long-awaited one, and reaffirmed that issuers must register projects with his agency.
CIS categories include public and private equity funds along with real estate investment trusts (REIT), he said, indicating that at least some projects will be able to be listed on the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) for trading.
“This market is a resource that can supply money for any project that has the potential to be successful and rewarding for people who purchase these fund units,” he said.
CSX market operations director Kim Sopha Nita lauded CISs as a viable option for investors in the local bourse. “Despite the fact that the regional and global economies continue to face many obstacles, I am optimistic that fund management firms will be interested in launching CISs,” she said.
Meanwhile, the CSX announced a number of objectives for 2023, including doubling the number of new securities listings to 14 and the average daily trading value to $1 million, the latter of which would be the third consecutive year of record highs.
According to the “CSX 2022 Achievements, Outlook, and Plans for 2023” newsletter, “over 5,000” new trading accounts were opened in 2022. This year, the bourse intends to triple that number.
The stock exchange also reported that 222 billion riel ($55.5 million) in capital was raised last year – up 133 per cent from 2021 – with corporate and sovereign bonds accounting for 63 per cent and 32 per cent, respectively.
On June 27, CSX CEO Hong Sok Hour disclosed that in May, 100,000 shares worth $300,000 were traded per day on average. He claims that there were 6,000 active investors that month, up from 5,000 in April.
“In keeping with the government’s goal of having an ‘upper-middle income’ economy by 2030, we have big ambitions to boost the market and achieve an average daily trading volume of over $100 million by 2030,” he revealed.
The CSX is co-owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Korea Exchange (KRX) on a 55:45 basis.
