PSE electronic system goes pfftt

Dealing a slight setback to ongoing efforts to enhance investor interest in the equities market, the Philippine Stock Exchange’s electronic system has hit a snag, making it impossible now for the public to view corporate disclosures on the internet.

PSE president Ernest Leung announced yesterday that the exchange’s online system would be temporarily unavailable from June 18 to 27 due to technical problems with the bourse’s internet service provider.

Thus, the PSE is reverting to the old system of releasing hard copies of disclosure reports of listed companies. No disclosure or announcement, however, shall be released after trading hours, Leung said.

Since the PSE started its online system in March, the service has been getting a lot of flak from the investing public and some brokerage houses due to difficulties in accessing the exchange’s website.

An analyst at a local brokerage house said this is a setback to PSE’s efforts to attract more investors in the securities market. "This would drive away prospective investors. How do you expect foreign investors to invest more money when things like these happen. They better fix this soon," he said.

As part of efforts to cut costs and enhance efficiency, PSE has stopped distributing paper-based disclosure reports of listed companies and has instead posted these reports on its website.

Users will only need to log on to www.pse.com.ph to access company disclosures and memos. They will have the option to choose and save only disclosures of importance to them.

These paper documents are converted into electronic format and entered into the system as soon as it has been prepared for release.

The system is installed on all trading floor terminals and will deploy all the disclosures that have been released for the day. The list is updated automatically as soon as a new disclosure or announcement has been received and entered into the system. Users will have the option to select a particular disclosure for viewing.

The PSE established the electronic disclosure system (EDS) to ensure broader access and the timely release of market information to the investing public.

For the investing public who have no access to the internet, they may visit the PSE’s headquarters in Ayala or Tektite building in Pasig to view the corporate disclosures.