PSE set to launch new website

While it has always been alluded to as an "Old Boys Club," the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) has managed to keep up with changing trends and is slowly adopting the e-commerce platform as it hops on to the New Economy bandwagon.

Starting this coming week, the PSE will launch its new website (www.pse.com.ph) which not only boasts of an enhanced look and faster navigation time but also features a wide range of data and information, including an ingenious real-time stock trading game.

The new Internet site will also get rid of the traditional paper-based circulation on the trading floor as it makes available an online disclosure system (OdiSy), which is currently on a test run.

"In line with the Exchange’s efforts towards increased operational efficiency and market transparency, all listed company disclosures as well as other PSE announcements and memos will be made available to the trading participants and the public in electronic form," PSE executive vice president Jose Cervantes said in an earlier circular.

He said the new bulletin system is an alternative way to have access to all the paper documents (circulars, memos and announcements) still being distributed on the trading floor. These paper documents will be converted to electronic format and entered into the Exchange’s MakTrade computer system as soon as these have been prepared for release.

Under the system, listed companies will be allowed to submit their disclosures through the Internet using a standard electronic format. Once validated, the information will be fed to the messaging server where it can be instantly viewed or downloaded.

OdiSy will be made available in both the PSE’s Pasig and Makati trading floors by the end of 2002, allowing both the floor participants and off-site players real-time transmission, dissemination and archiving of the materials being distributed daily.

Among these information include press releases, schedule of regular or special stockholders meetings, results of board elections, clarification/confirmation of news articles, explanation/reply to unusual price movements, major deals signed and other significant corporate developments.

These are on top of PSE circulars and memos to brokers, including the registration of new stockbrokers; the cessation/suspension of broker activities; change of personnel, office address, telephone numbers; as well as guidelines on scheduled initial public offerings (IPOs).

The new system will also be equipped with a historical database, allowing users who subscribed in the service to search and go through past disclosures.

The Exchange distributes all memos and circulars to all 137 active traders at the floor and its various departments including the Press Center, piling up a substantial amount of paper daily.