BCA gets custodian license in futures

Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta

The Commodity Futures Trading Supervisory Board (Bappebti) issued on Tuesday a license for Bank Central Asia (BCA) to operate as a custodian bank in futures trading.

Bappebti chairman Ardiansyah Parman told reporters that BCA is the second custodian bank in the industry after Bank Niaga.

"Traders from across the country will now have better access as BCA has a wide network across the country," Ardiansyah said.

Jakarta Futures Exchange (JFX) president director Hasan Zein Mahmud said that the challenge of the Indonesian futures market was the lack of active participants in the derivative industry.

Hasan hoped that the entry of BCA as custodian bank would encourage more traders to join the industry.

Currently, the JFX has an average transaction of 2,500 lot per day, far lower compared to transaction in Malaysia's derivative exchange that reaches up to 20,000 lot per day, he said.

According to Bappebti data, there are 19 active future traders in the exchange out of 31 registered brokers.

However, the agency also revealed that there were also some 77 unregistered brokers.

Ardiansyah said that the agency was working together with the police to discipline the unregistered brokers, as their operation is seen as a criminal activity under Law No. 32/1997 on futures trading.