By the end of 2015, the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) expects to make significant progress in paving the road for integration of its capital markets and financial services by 2020. The group aims to achieve this through progressive liberalisation and harmonisation of markets. In particular, Asean has in its crosshairs capital market development, harmonisation of settlement systems, bond issuance and governance.
One of the hallmarks of integration so far was the launch of Asean Exchanges in 2011, a collaboration between six Asean member countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines and Vietnam.