The Association of Southeast Asian Nations Asean Capital Markets Forum was created in 2004, and was quickly directed to increase cross-border issuance in the region.
Since then a variety of initiatives have been launched, including a trading link that makes it easier for brokers in one country to place orders on a foreign stock exchange, a set of common disclosure standards, and the introduction of a green bond framework in March.
But the level of development in Asean capital markets varies drastically and, as in many aspects of the now 50-year-old bloc, real integration remains a distant dream.
“The Asean bloc offers potential...