JSX to start remote trading by June

JSX to start remote trading by June

BOGOR (JP): The Jakarta Stock Exchange will introduce a remote
trading system beginning June next year in a bid to boost the
participation of local investors.

JSX president Mas Achmad Daniri said that the adoption of
remote trading system was also part of preparations for online
trading via the Internet.

"Remote trading and access to brokers in cities outside
Jakarta will help build a strong base for local investors," he
said following the opening of a securities company branch office
here.

Daniri declined to divulge how much the JSX would set aside to
develop the remote trading system, saying that details had to
wait for the company's general shareholders' meeting.

Daniri said previously that developing the remote trading
system might cost the exchange operator some Rp 20 billion
(around US$2.2 million).

He further said that before remote trading could become
widespread, traders must also upgrade their trading system.

According to him, in applying the right system, JSX would seek
technologies that would suit investors' needs and were also up to
date.

Using a remote trading system, traders from outside Jakarta
could access the stock market and execute on-line trades.

"If the system is fully adapted by traders, their presence on
the trading floor would become unnecessary," Daniri said, adding
that remote trading was an alternative to expanding the market
penetration.

He said that there were several ways to expand the market,
including opening of securities companies branches in the other
major cities.

On Friday securities company PT Perdana Futura Centra
Investama (PDFCI), a former subsidiary of the now defunct Bank
PDFCI, opened its fifth branch in Bogor.

PDFCI president Nenny Sutanto said the company expanded its
operation to Bogor because the city had many middle-class
citizens who were potential investors.

She said the company had invested some Rp 250 million in the
branch and was operating other branches in Medan, North Sumatra,
Palembang, South Sumatra, Batam and in Bali.

PDFCI also plans to open branches in Sulawesi and Kalimantan.

Asked why PDFCI was expanding, she said the company was upbeat
that the now sluggish stock market would improve in the future.

"We prepare umbrellas before it rains so that once the market
is growing we'll benefit from our investments," she explained.

The company's finance director Antony further said that PDFCI
planned to go public next year. (bkm)