A Vietnamese company is closing its brokerage and securities arm in Cambodia, an official said Thursday, amid the ongoing drought of listings on the Cambodian Securities Exchange (CSX).
Tram Minh Trung, director-general of Sacombank Securities Cambodia Public Ltd. Co., part of the Ho Chi Minh City-based Sacombank Securities Company, said that the company was wrapping up in Cambodia.
“The company is shutting down,” he said. “We have problems in Vietnam so we focus on the Vietnamese market right now.”
Sacombank—which only owns a non-controlling 10.95 percent stake in Sacombank Securities Company—continues to operate as a bank in Cambodia.
Mr. Trung said the company had informed the Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC) that it was handing back its license as a securities registrar, transfer agent and paying agent.
A statement posted on the website of the SECC on Thursday says the firm “has stopped receiving orders from clients, closed client accounts, and already returned to clients the securities, fund or other properties by 31 December, 2012.”
The CSX still only offers the stocks of one company, the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority, which listed in the bourse’s first and only initial public offering in April 2012.
A number of state-run companies—including the Phnom Penh Autonomous
Port and the now-troubled Telecom Cambodia—have been touted as potential IPOs. Private firms, including a Taiwanese garment factory, have also stated an interest in listing.
Svay Hay, managing director of Acleda Securities PLC said Sacombank Securities’ decision was not a reflection of the broader financial services market in Cambodia.
“They have their own reasons, but it’s not [about] the situation in the market,” he said. “I would say there are many companies [that] have shown an interest in listing…. We’re looking at the medium to long-term.”
Kuy Vat, chairman of Phnom Penh Securities PLC, said that with time, the stock market would grow in size and attract more companies.
“I think we will have four or five companies this year. So the market is getting better,” Mr. Vat said.
(This article has been amended from an earlier version, which erroneously suggested that Sacombank Securities Cambodia Public Limited Ltd. Co. was controlled by Sacombank)
