BUSRA MALAYSIA

The Bursa Malaysia (MYX: 1818) or Malaysia Exchange, MYX previously known as Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE, Bursa Saham Kuala Lumpur in Malay) dates back to 1930 when the Singapore Stockbrokers' Association was set up as a formal organisation dealing in securities in Malaya. In 1937 it was re-registered as the Malayan Stockbrokers' Association, but it still did not trade public shares.

By 1960s, the Malayan Stock Exchange was formed and public trading of shares began on 9 May. In 1961, the Board system was introduced whereby two trading rooms, one each in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, were linked by direct telephone lines into a single market with the same stocks and shares listed at a single set of prices on both boards.

The Stock Exchange of Malaysia was officially formed in 1964 and in the following year, with the secession of Singapore from Malaysia, the common stock exchange continued to function under the name Stock Exchange of Malaysia and Singapore (SEMS).

In 1973, with the termination of currency interchangeability between Malaysia and Singapore, the SEMS was separated into The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Bhd (KLSEB) and The Stock Exchange of Singapore (SES). Malaysian companies continued to be listed on SES and vice-versa. A new company limited by guarantee, The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) took over operations of KLSEB as the stock exchange. In 1994, it was re-named Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange.

Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange became a demutualised exchange and was re-named Bursa Malaysia in 2004. It consists of a Main Board, a Second Board and MESDAQ with total market capitalization of MYR700 billion (US$189 billion).

In 2005, Bursa Malaysia was listed at its own exchange on 18 March. On 18 April, Bursa Malaysia introduced CBRS, a scheme which allows all investors to access research reports of Bursa-listed companies free-of-charge.

The main index for Bursa Malaysia is Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI). However, in June 2006, a new index series jointly developed by Bursa Malaysia and FTSE Group was introduced which is FTSE Bursa Malaysia Index.

On November 7, 2006, the index finally passed the 1,000 mark hurdle and closed at 1,003.28. It was partly boosted by the strong overnight close in the Wall Street.

As of 31 December 2007, the Malaysia Exchange had 986 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of $325 billion.

HISTORY

The first formal securities business organisation in Malaysia was the Singapore Stockbrokers' Association, established in 1930. It was re-registered as the Malayan Stockbrokers' Association in 1937. The Malayan Stock Exchange was established in 1960 as the bourse for public trading of shares in Malaya. The board system with trading rooms in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, linked by direct telephone lines into a single market with the same shares listed at a single set of prices on both boards, was established in 1961.

By 1964, the Stock Exchange of Malaysia was established. With the secession of Singapore from Malaysia in 1965, the Stock Exchange of Malaysia became known as Stock Exchange of Malaysia and Singapore. In 1973, with the currency interchangeability between Malaysia and Singapore ceased, the Stock Exchange of Malaysia and Singapore was divided into KLSEB and SES. The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange which was incorporated on December 14, 1976 as a company limited by guarantee, took over the operations of KLSEB in the same year.

The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Berhad was demutualized pursuant to the Demutualization Act and converted into a public company limited by shares on January 5, 2007. Upon the conversion, the organization vested and transferred the securities exchange business to a new wholly-owned subsidiary, Bursa Securities, and became an exchange holding company and were renamed Bursa Malaysia Berhad on April 14, 2007.

From the legal perspective, the demutualization essentially entailed the conversion from a not-for-profit "mutual" entity limited by the guarantee of its members into a company limited by shares. However, from the business strategy perspective, the demutualization, supported by business transformation initiatives, is intended to further enhance its corporate, organizational and governance structures.

On 18 March 2005, Bursa Malaysia made its debut on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad with a 17% or RM0.50 premium over its retail price of RM3.00. top

Foreign exchange market

The foreign exchange market (currency, forex, or FX) market is where currency trading takes place. It is where banks and other official institutions facilitate the buying and selling of foreign currencies. [1]FX transactions typically involve one party purchasing a quantity of one currency in exchange for paying a quantity of another. The foreign exchange market that we see today started evolving during the 1970s when worldover countries gradually switched to floating exchange rate from their erstwhile exchange rate regime, which remained fixed as per the Bretton Woods system till 1971.

Now, the FX market is one of the largest and most liquid financial markets in the world, and includes trading between large banks, central banks, currency speculators, corporations, governments, and other institutions. The average daily volume in the global foreign exchange and related markets is continuously growing. Traditional daily turnover was reported to be over US$3.2 trillion in April 2007 by the Bank for International Settlements.[2] Since then, the market has continued to grow. According to Euromoney's annual FX Poll, volumes grew a further 41% between 2007 and 2008.[3]

The purpose of FX market is to facilitate trade and investment. The need for a foreign exchange market arises because of the presence of multifarious international currencies such as US Dollar, Pound Sterling, etc., and the need for trading in such currencies.

Beirut Stock Exchange

The Beirut Stock Exchange (or BSE) is the principal stock exchange of Lebanon. Located in Beirut, it is a public institution run by a committee including a Chairman, a Vice-Chairman and eight members appointed via a decree issued by the Council of Ministers, in accordance with a proposal by the Minister of Finance. All BSE members are Lebanese Joint stock companies (SAL) with a capital above 500,000 Lebanese Pounds and registered at the secretariat of the Commercial Register in. Members include holding companies and offshore companies. The BSE authorizes Brokerage firms the operation and trade in securities listed on the BSE according to the Bourse trading system and also lists the issuing companies (called "Listed companies") that have any of their stocks or other financial instruments listed.

History
Beirut Stock Exchange, the second oldest market in the region, was established in 1920 by a decree of the French commissioner. Trading at that time was concentrated on gold and currency transactions, however in the 1930s there was an inflow of French, Syrian and local Lebanese investment which made it possible for the BSE to flourish, especially with the establishment of mixed Lebanese-French joint stock companies that were quoted simultaneously on the Paris and Beirut Stock Exchanges. The activity in the 1950s and 1960's increased with the enlisting of various banking, industrial and services companies along with an amount of 50 listed bonds.

During the Lebanese Civil War trading activity halted in 1983. After 11 years a new administrating committee (in collaboration with the Bourse de Paris) re-launched the BSE with a new internal bylaw, re-structured and streamlined mechanisms and trading systems. A new automated brokers system was introduced, based on the fixing price instead of the traditional OTC voice brokers. On November 22, 1996, the BSE officially re-launched the trading activity in its hall. The BSE and Bourse de Paris signed a cooperation agreement in June 1999 and the new European NSC-UNIX–Euronext system was set. In 2000, new forms of securities were listed such as GDR (Global Depository Receipt), investment funds shares, preferred stocks, priority shares and any other tradable derivatives. In late 2006, the BSE launched a new Remote Trading System, allowing the brokers to trade with the securities listed on the BSE "remotely" from their own offices.


Hours
The exchange has pre-trading sessions from 09:00am to 09:30am and normal trading sessions from 09:30am to 12.30pm on all days of the week except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays declared by the Exchange in advance.

Kyrgyz Stock Exchange

The Kyrgyz Stock Exchange (KSE) was founded in 1994. Until 2000 the exchange functioned in the form of a non-profit membership organization with a total membership of 16. In May 2000 the KSE was transformed into a joint stock company. In 2001 the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange became a shareholder.

The administrative bodies of the KSE are:

Shareholders General Assembly: main administrative body
Board of Directors: supervisory body
President: individual body

Kuwait Stock Exchange

The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) is the national stock market of The State of Kuwait. Although several share holding companies (such as NBK in 1952) existed in Kuwait prior to the creation of the KSE, it was not until October 1962 that a law was passed to organize the country's stock market.

The Kuwait Stock Exchange is also among the first and largest stock exchanges in the Gulf region, and is now gaining prominence as one of the most potentially important in the world.

The Kuwait Stock Exchange shall enjoy an independent judicial personality with the right of litigation in a mode facilitating the performance of its functions for the purpose of realising the objectives of its organisation in the best manner within the scope of regulations and laws governing the Stock Exchange operations.

The Stock Exchange shall within its activity act to direct and rationalise dealing in stocks and securities, within the scope of its powers in order to develop and stabilise dealing in securities in a manner securing safe, easy and accurate transactions so as to avoid any confusion in dealings.

The Stock Exchange, in pursuance of the research and the studies concluded by it and its follow up of the security dealing process shall render appropriate advice and opinion to the competent government authorities regarding the financial status of the Stock Exchange member companies and means of promoting their efficiency for realisation of their relevant objectives.

The Stock Exchange shall participate with the competent authorities in order to realise coordination and integration among the financial and the economic activities and the capital movement so as to assist in achieving the economic and the financial development and stability of the state.

The Stock Exchange staff shall continue to develop the systems and the methods of dealing in securities, besides introducing modern techniques such as those applied in advanced stock markets for the purpose of achieving a sound financial position for the Kuwait Stock Exchange on both, regional and international levels.

The Stock Exchange shall act to encourage saving, promote investment awareness among citizens, protect depositors and create means for investment of funds in securities, in a manner beneficial to the economy.

Kazakhstan Stock Exchange

Kazakhstan Stock Exchange is the principal stock exchange in Kazakhstan. It is located in Almaty and was founded in 1993 as the Kazakh Interbank Currency Exchange. Its name is abbreviated to KASE. Part of Almaty Financial Centre.

KASE has a bond market and an equities market.

Amman Stock Exchange

Amman Stock Exchange (or ASE for short) is a stock exchange private institution in Jordan. It is named "Amman", after the country's capital city, Amman.

History
The ASE was established in March 1999 as a non-profit, private institution with administrative and financial autonomy. It is authorized to function as an exchange for the trading of securities. The exchange is governed by a seven-member board of directors. A chief executive officer oversees day-to-day responsibilities and reports to the board. The ASE membership is comprised of Jordan's 65 brokerage firms.


Operations
The ASE operates a bond market and an equities market. The equities market is divided into a First Market and a Second Market. The exchange has pre-trading sessions from 09:30am to 10:00am, normal trading sessions from 10:00am to 12.00noon and 12.00noon to 12.30pm on all days of the week except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays declared by the Exchange in advance. The ASE's stock indices include the ASE Unweighted Index and the ASE Market Capitalization Weighted Index.