The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) hopes to sign a formal agreement with five other Southeast Asian bourses on cross-border securities trading by yearend.

 

"We are still finalizing the details. We want to enter into a memorandum of agreement by the end of the year," Francis Lim, PSE president told reporters.

 

The PSE and its counterparts-- Bursa Malaysia, Hochi Minh Stock Exchange, Indonesia Stock Exchange, Singapore Stock Exchange and the Stock Exchange of Thailand-- earlier agreed in principle to electronically link up and create a regional trading board to help draw in more investments. 

 

This means that brokers in each country will be allowed to trade stocks on the other participating exchanges.

 

"But we have yet to select a system provider and determine the total cost of the project," Lim said.

 

Southeast Asian stocks have taken a beating recently as risk-averse investors move away from the region on worries about the economic fallout from the US financial crisis.