Bourse transfers to BGC late 2016

By the end of next year, the local stock market will have one trading floor as it moves its headquarters from Makati City to Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, after bourse operator, Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. (PSE) signed a deal with Fort Bonifacio Development Corp. for the PSE headquarters and its unified trading floor worth P805.37 million.

The stock market currently conducts its business at the PSE building in Makati City and the Tektite Tower at Ortigas Center in Pasig City.

“The transfer to Fort Bonifacio will improve PSE operational efficiencies and support the growth of the company in the coming years. We look forward to calling the fast-growing Bonifacio Global City (BGC) our home soon,” PSE president and chief executive Hans Sicat said.

PSE purchased a property in BGC and the Fort Bonifacio Development Center (FBDC) broke ground on the new PSE headquarters in 2012.

The new PSE offices will be part of the P3.5-billion multi-tower complex in One Bonifacio High Street district.

The office space was given in exchange for the 2,000-square meter parcel of land originally donated to the PSE by FBDC as the site for future headquarters more than a decade ago.

Aside from the PSE, the new office building will be home to at least 100 active brokers.

The PSE will sell its two offices in Makati City and Ortigas Center .

“We will be selling those offices,” Sicat said.
Sicat added that the PSE may also consider renting out its Makati city building. Sicat said he sees a high level of investor interest in the Makati Tower One building and the PSE Ortigas, formerly known as Tektite Towers.

This came as the PSE will start using its new trading system, the PSEtrade XTS on June 1, 2015.

The new trading engine developed by Nasdaq will replace the current PSEtrade platform which has been provided by NYSE Euronext Technologies SAS and used by the market since 2010.

“The shift to XTS is one of our major projects in our strategic plan. This upgrade brings us closer to our technology goals for the Exchange,” Sicat said.

The launch date was set following a series of market rehearsals that have been conducted since March.

The PSE held one more market rehearsal last May 23 to provide market participants more opportunities to get used to the system before its launch.

PSEtrade XTS is prepared to handle more volumes and trades even as the local stock market has seen the number trades increase almost five-fold from 2010.

The new system also provides for same-day recovery in case the disaster recovery site is utilized.

It is also capable of facilitating new products and services that are being planned to be rolled-out by the exchange.

“The market testing we conducted the last few weeks provided our market participants the opportunity to test the features and functions of the PSEtrade XTS in a simulated trading session. We look forward to a smooth and seamless transition to the new system,” Sicat added.

In July 2014, the PSE announced that it will use Nasdaq’s X-stream Trading technology to power its new trading engine.

Nasdaq’s exchange technology operates in over 100 market places across USA, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, and the Middle East.

Nasdaq’s trading technology is also used by Asean exchanges, like Bursa Malaysia, Singapore Exchange, and the Indonesia Stock Exchange.