Thai futures contract set for April launch

The Thailand Futures Exchange (TFEX) will launch its first product, SET50 index futures, on April 28.

The launch is aimed at meeting the growing interest in Thailand’s financial market, and is timed to coincide with the Stock Exchange of Thailand’s 40th anniversary.The launch of a SET50 equity index futures contract is likely to be followed by bond futures, equity index options and single-stock options contracts in the future, said an exchange official.The country’s securities regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), will give final approval for the contract’s launch once it has reviewed TFEX, the clearing house and TFEX members.TFEX has been testing the systems internally for the past year, with brokerage firms involved in the testing since January this year. Although the testing period has expired, TFEX will allow brokers to test the system until one week prior to inauguration, says Kesara Manchusree, managing director of TFEX.While all the 20 approved brokers are unlikely to be able to receive trading orders from the contract’s launch, all are expected to have their systems ready by the end of June.