TFEX ready to trade first agricultural derivatives product by year-end,
The Thailand Futures Exchange (TFEX), listed under the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) group, said yesterday that it was ready to trade its first agricultural derivatives product - ribbed smoked rubber sheet No 3 futures (RSS3 Futures) - during the final
Trading would take place once it had merged with the Agricultural Futures Exchange of Thailand (AFET) and the National Legislative Assembly had approved amendments to the Agricultural Futures Trading Act.
Sathit Limpongpan, chairman of both the SET and TFEX, said TFEX had adjusted the necessary regulations for the trading, clearing and settlement systems, as well as running an industry-wide operational test for both its existing membership and new members from the AFET, in order to ensure that agricultural futures could start trading smoothly as soon as all the related laws were effective.
“RSS3 Futures will be the first agricultural derivatives product to be traded on TFEX. At present, this product still has some trading activities and open interest on the AFET. During the transitional period, RSS3 Futures will be traded on both TFEX and the AFET.
“To ensure a smooth and seamless transition, together with our new members from the AFET, we have continued to provide information relating to the transitional procedures to all our stakeholders, both domestic and foreign. Furthermore, ongoing education about the product is also being done to make sure investors can benefit from the new agricultural futures,” he explained.
TFEX, in collaboration with the Thailand Securities Institute, will help support AFET staff in terms of funding for various seminars so that they can gain the qualification required by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
For entrepreneurs and investors, TFEX will provide education on agricultural derivatives trading, covering contract specifications and trading strategies through seminars in the Bangkok metropolitan area and major cities nationwide, as well as organising outbound roadshows, he added.
The remarkable progress of the TFEX-AFET merger has been made possible by the collaboration of TFEX, the AFET, the SEC, the Office of the Agricultural Futures Trading Commission, the Commerce Ministry and the Finance Ministry, to enhance efficiency, minimise transaction cost and contribute more trading liquidity to agricultural futures, as well as provide benefits to investors as a one-stop trading market for all futures products, said Sathit.
