PH, Taiwan bourses ink note-sharing pact

The stock exchanges of the Philippines (PSE) and Taiwan (TWSE) are teaming up for capacity-building initiatives and market promotion, among others.

In a statement on Tuesday, PSE announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding with its Taiwanese counterpart last Aug. 20 in TWSE headquarters in Taipei.

The two exchanges will work together on “product development and market promotion and share best practices in areas such as regulations, ESG (environmental, social and governance) practices, and market trends, among others.”

PSE president and CEO Ramon Monzon said TWSE’s expertise on product and technology development, regulatory and sustainability initiatives “will serve as invaluable inputs to our exchange.”

The two parties will create a working group to realize the objectives of their partnership.

“I believe this MOU is a good starting point for the relationship between PSE and TWSE and is key to fostering the friendship recently formed between us and exploring mutually beneficial endeavors for the two bourses,” Monzon added.

This year, PSE expects to see up to P40 billion raised from at least six initial public offerings (IPO).

NexGen Energy Corp., a renewable power company led by businessman Dexter Tiu, was the recent market debutante with P504 million in funding raised.

Mining firm OceanaGold Philippines launched its IPO in May, raking in P6.08 billion. Power company Citicore Renewable Energy Corp., meanwhile, raised P5.5 billion from its debut in June.

In the first quarter, PSE saw its net income decline by 4.7 percent to P398.02 million as operating revenues slowed down due to lower average trading value.