"It's only 30 minutes, but 30 minutes" To TSE / Extension of trading hours Behind the scenes September 10, 18:41
The Tokyo Stock Exchange has entered into final adjustments to extend the closing time of the day's transactions by 30 minutes to 3:30 pm.
If realized, the end time will be extended for the first time in about 70 years.
Many people may wonder, "Only 30 minutes?"
However, the expansion of trading hours was, so to speak, a long-cherished wish that TSE has been frustrated by challenging many times.
I searched behind the scenes of "fulfillment of my wish".
(Ministry of Economy, Keiichiro Furuichi)
“Fourth Honesty” TSE's long-cherished wish
"The closing of the TSE (end of transaction) is settled with a 30-minute extension."
A working group meeting to discuss strengthening the TSE's market functions, which began at 4:00 pm on September 3.
After the end, the people concerned contacted me.
At this place where not only TSE but also securities companies and IT system companies participate, TSE presented a draft of the end of trading hours, and adjustments will be made in the direction of extending it by 30 minutes.
Tokyo Stock Exchange in Nihonbashi Kabutocho, Tokyo.
It is the center of Japanese stock trading, which is well known.
The market opens from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm (excluding one hour of lunch break), and stocks of more than 3,700 companies listed on the 1st, 2nd, Mothers, and JASDAQ, and financial products such as investment trusts are bought and sold. There is.
The closing time of the transaction was extended to 3:30 pm.
The end time was from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm in 1954.
TSE has tried many times to expand trading hours, but has been frustrated.
If realized, it will be the first fulfillment of a long-cherished wish in about 70 years.
Why are you aiming for extension?
The biggest reason why TSE aims to extend trading hours is to activate transactions.
The background to this is that TSE is sluggish compared to major overseas exchanges.
Looking at the market capitalization, which is the product of the number of shares of companies listed on each exchange and the stock price, not only is the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, where Amazon and Facebook are listed, but also 10 years ago. Was also on par with Shanghai and Hong Kong, which were far behind.
This is not just a problem for the TSE.
The market capitalization of an exchange is an evaluation of a company listed on the market, and can be said to be an evaluation of the entire Japanese economy.
The sluggish growth of market capitalization is also the sluggish growth of the Japanese economy.
What attracted attention there was the trading hours of the day.
TSE is 5 hours.
In contrast, the New York Stock Exchange takes six and a half hours and Hong Kong takes five hours and 40 minutes.
TSE has long tried to expand trading hours in an attempt to revitalize the market as much as possible.
It has been discussed three times in 2000, 2010, and 2014, but all of them have been abandoned.
In particular, in 2014, a proposal was made to establish a new trading market in the evening and at night, but dissenting opinions from all parties concerned did not come to fruition.
Some TSE executives bitterly look back at the time, saying, "I was in a bag. I don't want to remember."
Why did you have a difficult time?
Most brokerage firms have taken the opposite position to increasing trading hours.
The reason is that as the transaction time increases, the clerical work and working hours increase, and the cost burden also increases.
After the transaction is completed, the sales representative of the securities company explains to the customer whether or not the stock can be bought or sold as ordered, but if the closing time is delayed, the time to start such work will be delayed, or the customer's source It is said that the working hours will inevitably increase because the hours of visiting business that visits directly will be delayed.
Only a minority of securities firms were in favor of expanding trading hours, except for online specialists, who do not have a face-to-face sales force.
The investment trust industry group was also in the opposite position.
An investment trust is a financial product that combines multiple stocks, but every day, the price of each product is calculated based on the closing price at the end of the transaction.
Then, the calculated price is posted on the newspaper the next day.
If the end time is delayed, the price will be calculated later.
There was a concern that if it was significantly delayed, it would not be possible to publish it on the paper the next day, which in turn could affect the sales of the product.
Is it a "shelter" due to a system failure?
The reason why it turned around this time and became a "extension" is due to the large-scale system failure that occurred in October last year.
At this time, TSE fell into an unprecedented "all-day trading suspension."
Securities officials agree that there should never be a situation where trading cannot be done all day long.
As the industry is considering measures to prevent recurrence and recovery measures after a failure, "extension of transaction time" has emerged.
The flow of discussion is as follows.
Initially, a securities company commented, "I think we should change the trading hours only when a system failure occurs on the TSE."
However, another securities company voiced opposition to this, saying that it would cost extra.
In that case, if the transaction time is expanded in advance, it may be possible to secure the time to buy and sell after recovery even if a system failure occurs.
Isn't it appropriate to extend the closing time for that?
Securities companies, which used to have a lot of dissenting opinions, turned in favor this time.
In this way, the flow of extending the end time was gradually completed.
In this development, there were some TSE executives who unintentionally leaked their true intentions.
Only 30 minutes, but 30 minutes
So how much do you want to extend the closing time?
The proactive group had the idea of "up to 3 hours" and "at least 1 hour", saying that they should secure time comparable to overseas.
On the other hand, there are still strong opinions that the cost will increase.
Then, "30 minutes" emerged as a place to drop.
Judging from the background of the discussions so far, the TSE has warmed up as an absurd plan, saying that there is only "30 minutes" for the opposition and cautious parties to come close to each other.
And the working group meeting on September 3rd.
TSE is fully prepared to present two drafts, a "30-minute plan" and a "several-hour plan."
On the other hand, I am convinced that the securities industry can withstand cost increases in 30 minutes, and the investment trust industry can minimize the impact in 30 minutes.
If you extend it by 30 minutes, the trading time of TSE will be 5 and a half hours, which is one hour shorter than New York, but you can secure almost the same time as Hong Kong.
In the future, we will verify the issues on the assumption that it will be extended by 30 minutes.
It's just "30 minutes, but 30 minutes".
Thus, the extension of the end time for the first time in about 70 years has virtually settled.
Will it lead to market revitalization?
However, does the 30-minute extension really lead to the revitalization of the market that TSE is planning?
In fact, many securities companies think that the way the transaction volume increases is limited.
Executives of securities companies say that it is important not only to extend trading hours but also to raise the growth potential of Japanese companies.
From April next year, the TSE will no longer be divided into 1st and 2nd divisions, and will be reorganized into 3 markets: "Prime", "Standard" and "Growth".
The standards for maintaining a listing will become stricter, and companies will be required to make further efforts to increase value.
The transaction closing time is expected to be extended from 2024 in line with the next major system refurbishment.
The Tokyo stock market has entered a period of major reform.
Above all, the TSE, the securities industry, and companies are required to enhance their attractiveness.
Economy reporter
Furuichi AkiraIchiro
2014. He joined
responsible for the financial industry is currently through the Niigata stations