The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Riza Lozada
The Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. (PSE) has released the rules for Dollar Denominated Securities (DDS) that provides the framework and guidelines for the listing, trading and clearing and settlement of dollar-denominated shares.
“With the newly approved DDS rules duly signed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), our goal is to provide a new investment product that both our issuers and investors can leverage on to address their expanding requirements. We are grateful for the collective support of the SEC, the BSP and all the stakeholders in helping develop these rules, ” PSE President and CEO Hans Sicat said.
The DDS Rules allow PSE listed companies to issue a new set of securities, either common or preferred shares, which are quoted, traded, and settled in US dollars.
Sicat said the listing of shares in foreign currencies will provide listed companies the venue to raise new capital in US dollars to meet their dollar needs.
It also gives investors with dollar holdings an investment vehicle that could provide viable returns, he said.
While the SEC has approved the DDS rules, its implementation will be rolled out once the necessary infrastructure for the listing, trading and clearing and settlement are put in place.
Related to this, the PSE has scheduled this December seminars and information awareness campaign for trading participants and other stakeholders.
“We shall be working on preparing the market and infrastructure over the next four to six weeks to ensure the smooth and successful introduction of DDS. Being a new product, it is important for the PSE that all stakeholders are properly informed of the dynamics of DDS,” Sicat said.
The PSE has been working on introducing new products and services in the past four years as an integral component of its strategy to expand the market, including providing rules for the listing for Public-Private Partnership projects or PPPs.
“We understand that the government is reviewing the relevant rules for real estate investment trusts (REITS) and we hope this will result in the first REIT listing in the country. With all the efforts on the product development front coming to fruition, we look forward to an exciting 2017,” Sicat added.