Chea Chanto, NBC’s governor, also has warned tourists and the public to be careful of being defrauded by unlicensed money changers along Cambodia’s borders.

Money exchange shop

According to the announcement of NBC, “in order to guarantee personal interests and prevent accidental losses, the public should be careful, and in case of requiring the exchange of money, please, the public must change in shops that show their license, which is issued by the National Bank of Cambodia.”

The Phnom Penh Post quoted Chea Chanto as saying that “to avoid eventually losing out, customers should have their money exchanged at booths displaying operating licenses from the central bank.”

According to the notice, a few money changing shops, particularly along the border with Thailand have cheated visitors and have even passed counterfeit Cambodian riel to customers.

NBC inspection of money-changing racket on the Kingdom’s borders found many offered exchange rates far below the market rate, some as low as 2,500 riels for US$1. A dollar was worth 4,167 riels Monday, the Post reported.

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“The launch of the securities market in Cambodia is still on the schedule for 2009, but a suitable date will be determined by the government later,” Keat Chhon said during the SECC launch Wednesday.

“We have eight months to launch the stock market. We will launch it, even if at the start only two companies list on it.”

He said that only profitable companies that maintain high standards of accountability, transparency and corporate governance will be allowed to make public offers.

“There are tens of thousands of companies in Cambodia, but when we selected around 400 companies with accurate financial reports, there was an instant negative reaction because they worried they could no longer embezzle taxes,” he said.
“That’s why I always appreciate foreign investors because most of them maintain good governance.”

To encourage companies to join the stock market, Keat Chhon said that the government will consider tax incentives that will be provided for the issuing companies, investors and securities intermediaries.

This will in turn push companies towards better business practices, he added.

Inpyo Lee, project director of the Korean Exchange, said Wednesday that the SECC launch was a step towards the stock market, but that Cambodia’s stock market launch date could be changed depending on the global economic climate.
“It can be delayed … but we will try our best to achieve it on schedule,” he said.

In mid-February, at the Business Roundtable in Siem Reap, Prime Minister Hun Sen said that the absence of a stock exchange in Cambodia had helped the country escape the worst of the global economic crisis and that opening a stock market in this economic climate could be a mistake.

“If it is born just to die, we shouldn’t let it be established at this time,” he said.

Pung Kheav Se, president of Canadia Bank, said Wednesday that his bank was still deciding whether to list or not, but added that listing the company would be a good opportunity to build confidence among the public.

“We will discuss with our shareholders and board if we’re to list on the upcoming market. Now our bank is sufficiently qualified for the stock market, in capital and profits, as well as in governance,” he said.

The original article is extracted from the Phnom Penh Post

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