The Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) has a flag. It has an anthem. It even has a basketball league and a bi-ennial football tournament. What it does not have is a single capital market worthy of the name. An ordinary retail investor in Kuala Lumpur has to jump through hoops to buy a share listed in Manila. A fixed-income fund manager in Singapore trying to buy a bond in Bangkok, meanwhile, would face a series of regulatory and technical hurdles.
This bloc of 10 south-east Asian nations, bound by trade and political links, is an increasingly vital engine of global economic growth. It contributes a bigger share of the world's gross domestic product (GDP) than India, with a population more than 50% larger than Brazil and Russia combined. Most of the region is operating at or above potential, with little collateral damage from the 2008-09 crisis. But it remains a loose grouping of relatively small capital markets, divided by different standards and technologies.
