This is the interesting question that will be explored in an Evening Talk that the Securities Industry Development Centre (SIDC) is organising on 26 July 2001.

Prof. Dr. S Ghon Rhee, Executive Director of the Asia-Pacific Financial Markets Research Center, University of Hawaii will be delivering the talk.

Prof. Ghon Rhee sits on the K.J. Luke Chair of International Finance and Banking at the College of Business Administration, University of Hawaii. He was recently conferred the 2001 Archimedes Award from University of Catania (Sicily) and Erasmus University (Netherlands) for his contributions to academic research on Asian capital markets.

Prof. Ghon Rhee, in the course of discussing Japan's role in the creation of a regional bond market, will also talk about capital market reform measures that were undertaken by the region's economies during and after the Asian financial crisis, what Asia should do to promote regionalised bond trading and the readiness of domestic bond markets for cross-border trading within the region.

This topic is timely given the focus placed by regional markets on bonds since the Asian financial crisis. The development of the bond market has received a boost following various policy reform measures taken by many Asian countries to address the collapse of the equity markets during the financial crisis. The reform measures include deregulating banking systems, laying infrastructure for deepening financial markets, introducing new financial instruments, and establishing a more facilitative legal framework.

On the whole, the evening talk aims to promote an understanding of the development and growth prospects of the Asian bond markets, as well as the implications of bond market development on investors, corporate issuers, market intermediaries, exchanges and regulators.

The talk will benefit academicians, investors, market practitioners, as well as members of the public who wish to gain an insight to the bond market.

The talk will begin at 5.30 p.m. at the Securities Commission (SC).

Registration for the talk is RM80.00 per person. For more information, please contact Ms. Rosma Abd Azid at tel: 6204 8000, fax: 03-6201 5811 or e-mail to [email protected]. For the latest programme details, please visit www.sc.com.my