The following article provides a good synopsis of the current situation for online stock trading in China.
Online Trading "Megatrend" Captivates Greater China
Two articles today captured the growing attention focused on the potential of online trading in the Greater China region. The phenomenal success of online trading in the North American market has made Asia virgin territory for big securities firms, and the race is on for local partners to gain coveted first mover status.
The Wall Street Journal reports that by June five large Asian securities houses plan to unveil a regional online stock-trading network. The Asia Online Stock Trading Network, announced Wednesday, is formed by Aizawa Securities Co. of Japan, Capital Securities Corp. of Taiwan, Dongwon Securities Co. of South Korea, Tai Fook Securities Group Ltd. of Hong Kong, and Japan Asia Securities Group Ltd. of Hong Kong.
In a bit of self promotion, ChinaWeb ran as its top story their own announcement of a new online trading venture with the China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC). ChinaWeb and CITIC unveiled their proprietary Trading Online Platform (TOP), which they say was developed in-house by Homeway, a ChinaWeb subsidiary. The TOP system currently supports online trading of equity securities and will be expanded to other financial instruments in the near future.
"The convenience of online trading should increase liquidity in China's equity markets," said ChinaWeb's Chairman and CEO Wang Boming in the announcement. "Further, the ability to conduct financial transactions over the Internet is now available to those who want it. We think that providing and developing this enhanced connectivity will be good for our future."
Not to be outdone, Asia.internet.com detailed the Wednesday acquisition by Sinobull.com of 50% of the outstanding shares of StreamingAsia.com.
U.S. based The Hartcourt Companies Inc. is majority shareholder in the Chinese-language Sinobull.com. Sinobull provides systems for online trading, real time quotes, financial news and data on companies listed on the Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges, chat rooms, e-mail and other services.
On the growing interest in online trade in Asia, the market gurus were very bullish. "It's very, very much the megatrend," Mark Duff, head of Boom Securities, told the WSJ. Boom Securities already allows Asian investors to trade online U.S., Hong Kong, and Singapore stocks. His company plans to add eight additional regional markets to its selection this year. |
