"The Thai market will be offering a greater variety of instruments and financial innovations in 2005. The SET therefore intends to develop its IT capabilities to keep up and serve any imminent developments efficiently.

"Our IT programs in 2005 include 7 new projects and 6 that are ongoing from existing projects aimed at continually upgrading and improving system capabilities," said Mr. Chaiyoot.

The 7 new projects will deal with several important areas, including the trading and clearing of derivative instruments and the development of the supporting system for bonds. The new projects will also cover the surveillance system for all 3 markets at the SET, the centralization of the clearing and settlement processes, and the systems necessary for securities borrowing and lending (SBL) and the repurchasing of government bonds and other debt instruments. Furthermore, these new projects will also develop the linkage system for clearing which will serve the Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system, a work system that will permit one-stop service, plus implement a back-up system for the brokers in case they experience internal system errors.

As Mr. Chaiyoot went on: "One of our important missions is to get all the systems for the derivatives market ready in 2005. This will include its trading system as well as those related to trading, clearing and settlement system, and back office work.

“SBL service will be overseen by the Thailand Securities Depository Co., Ltd. (TSD). The TSD is developing the entire infrastructure for the SBL business, including its trading, risk management, and back-office systems so that TSD’s members will not have to invest in these systems individually. This will help save members’ costs whilst encouraging additional business transactions. These new projects were all set in motion in 2004 and will be completed in 2005."

There will also be a system developed to offer a one-stop service for investors. Beginning in 2005, investors will be able to conveniently and quickly use various SET services. For example, investors will be able to utilize the securities registrar and depository, as well as numerous other services offered by the SET and its subsidiaries, by accessing a single contact point.

The 6 ongoing projects for the development of the SET’s infrastructure and work systems deal with several key areas. These 6 programs will cover the new order-matching system, the development or procurement of the back-office system, which will then have the capacity to serve an integrated market for equity, debt, and derivatives, the multi-channel order-receiving system, the TSD's work system, an improvement of the SET’s information dissemination channels, the SET’s system back-up center, and the establishing of service standards.

Mr. Chaiyoot noted: "These projects are for improving investor services and service quality to better assure customer satisfaction whilst reducing the brokers costs. Hence all the projects in 2005 will be geared towards improving the convenience and efficiency of the SET’s services for all relevant parties in the securities business.

"The SET will work closely with our member companies, listed companies, investment management companies, as well as other relevant organizations in order that they all will be better prepared for the changes and developments. Their participation will also enable us to make our projects more efficient," said the SET EVP- IT Division.

The SET has been continually developing both its internal and external IT capabilities over the years. It has sometimes procured standard software from internationally recognized developers who utilize accepted good corporate governance and risk management measures. The SET's trading systems have been graded 'A' by an international trading system provider and the Thai market ranks high among the top 20 markets in the world in terms of system availability.