Japanese brokerages focusing on Asian

Japanese brokerages focusing on Asian

TOKYO (Kyodo): Major Japanese brokerages are looking to step into promising Asian stock markets by inviting securities regulators there and holding seminars on stock investment in such countries, officials of the brokerages said yesterday.

Nikko Securities Co. invited 19 finance officials from Vietnam for three weeks from late June to brief them on how the stock exchange operates and works as preparations continue toward opening a stock exchange both in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City this year.

Daiwa Securities Co. also invited officials from Vietnam's Finance Ministry last April for the same purpose. Besides Nikko and Daiwa, Nomura Securities Co. held a seminar on the Chinese stock market by inviting officials at the Shanghai Securities Exchange.

Further, six brokerages, including the ''Big Four'' houses, jointly held a seminar in July on how to invest in Indonesian stocks by inviting Indonesian officials.

Brokerage officials said they will send staff to Asian countries to help them develop their stock markets if requested.

Kazuyoshi Aoki, deputy chief of Nikko's training department, pointed to a need to support Asian countries in promoting their stock markets so as not to miss future business chances.