The Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia (SERC) has asked Credit Guarantee Corporation of Cambodia Plc (CGCC) and trust fund Credit Guarantee and Investment Facility (CGIF) to work together to enhance the credit guarantee mechanism and develop the domestic bond market. SERC director-general Sou Socheat told The Post that a virtual meeting on January 10 had not achieved any immediate breakthroughs, but that it opened the door for future discussions between the two organisations. “There are positive signs stemming from the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s confirmation that state bonds would be issued in 2022, as more private sector players gear up to do the same,” he said. “Lots of positive signs – the size of the issuances will also be greater.” Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) CEO Hong Sok Hour said the average daily trading volume on the local bourse reached $270,000 in 2021, up by 145 per cent from a year earlier. He shared that the CSX management expects five new companies to list this year, up from two in 2021. About 8,000 new trading accounts were opened in 2021, a figure which continues to grow each year, in a trend that signals a clear increase in interest in the CSX, despite listing just two firms last year, according to Sok Hour. The CSX will be even more active as more companies join the bourse’s Main and Growth Boards, he underlined. “Our goal to achieve $1 million in daily trading volume over the next three to four years is likely to be met,” he said. The SERC’s Socheat recounted that the inaugural listing on the CSX’s secondary Growth Board, through the first initial public offering (IPO) by a small- and medium-sized enterprise, stood out as possibly the main highlight for the securities market in 2021. As of end-2021, there were 15 companies listed on the two boards – eight have stocks trading on the bourse, and the rest have issued corporate bonds – raising around $277.79 million, he said.
