Thailand: Non-cash margin collateral convenience for investors

Thailand Futures Exchange PCL (TFEX), jointly with Thailand Clearing House Co Ltd (TCH), will allow investors to pledge both cash and non-cash collateral for margin requirements, starting from April 23.

The move is aimed at enhancing flexibility and convenience for trading, as well as lowering costs, TFEX managing director Rinjai Chakornpipat said.

TFEX this year has focused more on quality in all aspects and would develop products and services features to better meet investor demand, Rinjai said. The most recent development is for TCH to accept “non-cash collateral”, enabling investors to use assets such as government bonds, Bank of Thailand bonds, and stocks, together with cash, as collateral to meet their margin requirement, Rinjai added.

At this initial stage, the non-cash collateral will be restricted to shares which are underlying assets of Stock Futures only. A haircut rate will also be applied to the stocks because of the fluctuation in stock prices as well, as each stock has its own liquidity level. 

Investors will still have to pledge both cash together with non-cash collateral as margin. This is to guarantee the smooth operation of mark-to-market mechanism, Rinjai said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/Economy/30343383