China’s Kunming Province has picked up an unlikely counterpart for collaboration at one of its ambitious projects, Pan Asia Stock Exchange — the Calcutta Stock Exchange (CSE).
As CSE seeks a breather amidst a tiff with regulators over the existence of regional exchange, the Kunming provincial government invited CSE to be the India representative of the exchange.
The Pan Asia Exchange, which is in incipient stage, is a brain child of the Chinese provincial government. It is envisaged to be a collaboration between between Bangladesh, India, China and Myanmar, and some other South Asian countries including Pakistan, for inter regional trade of scrips in the infrastructure sector, said Swapan Kumar Bala , managing director of Dhaka stock exchange, which is taking an active participation in the formation of exchange.
According to members of Dhaka Stock Exchnage, the trading in the exchange is proposed in Chinese currency and CSE has been picked due to its geographical location. The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission has already allowed the DSE to sign on the declaration for joining the exchange.
As a stepping stone towards its participation, CSE today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Dhaka Stock Exchange for sharing best practices and knowledge in stock trading.
“This is a stepping stone towards further cooperation. If India joins the Pan Asia Stock Exchange, we will be more closer,” said Bala.
However, having a Pan Asia Stock Exchange is easier said than done, as it would need a number of regulatory approvals from central banks and governments.
“We will be approaching the Central Bank soon for getting a permission of joining the Pan Asia Stock Exchange,” said B Madhav Reddy, managing director and CEO, CSE.
The initiative is backed by The BCIM Forum on Regional Cooperation, earlier known as the 'Kunming Initiative', which involves scholars, business leaders, tourism experts, policy experts and technical personnel', along with government officials, aims to promote cooperation between Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar. The exchange will help infrastructure companies to raise funds, said Bala.
Meanwhile, CSE is hopeful of selling land parcel, valued between Rs 200-300 crore, for picking a stake at a clearing corporation.
The exchange has been in touch with Indian Clearing Corporation Limited (ICCL), the Clearing Corporation of BSE, and MCX SX Clearing Corporation to formalize an agreement. In April 2013, CSE had to suspend trading as it failed to comply with the Stock Exchanges and Clearing Corporations) Regulations, 2012.
