The Perceived Advantages, Disadvantages and Strategic Responses of International Stockbroking Firms in ASEAN Countries

This paper presents the findings of a questiorznaire survey ofstockbroking firnu in five countries in the Association of SouthEast Asian Nations (ASEAN): Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand,Philippines and Indonesia. The main focus of the study istwofold: first, to investigate the advantages and disadvantages ofthe presence of international stockbroking firms in ASEAN, asperceived by local stockbroking firms; and second, to survey thestrategies of these firms in response to the competition posed byinternational broking firms. We find that local firms believe thatthere are benefits arising front the entry of foreign firms in theregion. Among the more important benefits cited are higherquality research, increase in trading volume and marketliquidity. The most intportarnt strategies of local firms are toimprove their research capability and to provide better stafftraining. This augurs well for the stockbroking industry in theASEAN region.