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Australian Securities Exchange
File:ASX logo.png
Type	Stock exchange
Location	Sydney, Australia
Founded	1987
Owner	ASX Limited
Currency	Australian dollar
No. of listings	2,221 (January 2012)[1]
MarketCap	$1.2 trillion (January 2012)[1]
Website	www.asx.com.au

ASX Limited

File:ASX logo.png
Type	Public
Traded as	ASX: ASX
Industry	Securities markets
Founded	1987, but dating back to 1861
Headquarters	Sydney, Australia
Key people	David Gonski, (Chair) Elmer Funke Kupper, (CEO and Managing Director) Ramy Aziz, CFO
Revenue	A$617,628 million (2011)
Employees	500 (30 January 2012) [1]
Website	http://www.asx.com.au

Sydney Exchange Centre Entrance

The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) was created by the merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange in July 2006. It is the primary stock exchange group in Australia.

ASX is a multi-asset class, vertically integrated exchange group, ranked one of the world’s top-10 largest by market capitalisation. Its activities span: - primary and secondary market services, including the raising, allocation and hedging of capital flows, trading and investing, and price and volume discovery (via Australian Securities Exchange); - central counterparty risk transfer (via subsidiaries of ASX Clearing Corporation); and - transaction settlement for both the equities and fixed income markets (via subsidiaries of ASX Settlement Corporation).

ASX functions as a market operator, clearing house, payments system facilitator and central securities depository. ASX also oversees compliance with its operating rules, promotes standards of corporate governance among Australia’s listed companies and helps to educate retail investors. The domestic and international customer base of ASX is diverse. It includes issuers (such as corporations and trusts) of a variety of listed securities and financial products, investment and trading banks, fund managers, hedge funds, commodity trading advisers, brokers and proprietary traders, market data vendors and retail investors, as well as other listing and trading venues.

Underpinning ASX’s activities as a market operator is the quality of the monitoring and enforcement of compliance with its operating rules performed by its wholly owned subsidiary, ASX Compliance. By providing its systems, processes and services reliably and fairly, ASX seeks to promote confidence in the markets that depend on its infrastructure. This is integral to ASX’s long-term commercial success.

Confidence in the operations of the companies within the Group is reinforced by the whole-of-market regulation undertaken by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) across all listing and trading venues, as well as the oversight by the Reserve Bank of Australia of the Group’s clearing and settlement facilities for financial system stability. ASIC also supervises ASX’s own compliance as a public company with ASX Listing Rules.

ASX offers products and services including shares; futures, exchange traded options, warrants, contracts for difference, exchange traded funds, real estate investment trusts, listed investment companies and interest rate securities.^[2]

The biggest stocks traded on the ASX, in terms of their market capitalisation, include BHP Billiton, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac, Telstra Corporation, Rio Tinto, National Australia Bank and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group. As at March 2010 the three largest sectors by market capitalisation were financial (36%), metal and mining (22%) and consumer (13%).^[3]

The major market index is the S&P/ASX 200, an index made up of the top 200 shares in the ASX. This supplanted the previously significant All Ordinaries index, which still runs parallel to the S&P ASX 200. Both are commonly quoted together. Other indices for the bigger stocks are the S&P/ASX 100 and S&P/ASX 50.

The current Managing Director and CEO, Mr Elmer Funke Kupper, was appointed in October 2011.^[4] Prior to joining ASX he was Managing Director and CEO of Tabcorp from September 2007 to June 2011.^[4]

Market details[link]

ASX Group can be described as a multi-asset class and vertically integrated exchange group. Its activities include primary and secondary market services, including the raising, allocation and hedging of capital flows, trading and price discovery (Australian Securities Exchange); central counterparty risk transfer (via subsidiaries of ASX Clearing Corporation); and securities settlement for both the equities and fixed income markets (via subsidiaries of ASX Settlement Corporation).^[5]

ASX operates two trading, clearing and settlement platforms, one for equity and related equity derivative products traded on an integrated trading platform between the hours of 10:00am and 4:00pm (AEST); and one for a suite of interest rate, equity index and commodity futures (and options on futures) products as well as Contracts For Difference (CFD), traded on a globally distributed 24 hour platform.

Monitoring and enforcement of compliance with its operating rules is performed by its wholly owned subsidiary, ASX Compliance.^[6]

Operations of the ASX Group are regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) which regulates all trading venues and clearing and settlement facilities, and supervises ASX’s own compliance as a listed public company. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) also provides oversight in relation to compliance with financial stability standards for ASX’s central counterparties and securities settlement facilities.

ASX has a pre-market session from 07:00am to 10:00am AEST and a normal trading session from 10:00am to 04:00pm AEST. The market opens alphabetically in single-price auctions, phased over the first ten minutes, with a small random time built in to prevent exact prediction of the first trades. There is also a single-price auction between 4:10pm and 4:12pm to set the daily closing prices.^[7] As of 30 October 2010, 2,192 stocks were listed on the ASX with a total market capitalisation of A$1.4 trillion (US$1.4 trillion). As of 30 October 2010 it was the 6th largest world equity market (on free float basis), comprising around 3.4% of the S&P BMI and 3.2% of the MSCI World index. Average daily turnover during 2010 was $5.5Abn.^[8]

History[link]

Sydney Stock Exchange in 1959

Sydney Exchange Centre

Sydney Exchange Centre entrance

The exchange began as six separate exchanges established in the state capitals Melbourne, Victoria, (1861), Sydney, New South Wales (1871), Hobart, Tasmania (1882), Brisbane, Queensland (1884), Adelaide, South Australia (1887) and Perth, Western Australia (1889).^[9] A further exchange in Launceston, Tasmania, merged into the Hobart exchange.

The first interstate conference was held in 1903 at Melbourne Cup time. The exchanges then met on an informal basis until 1937 when the Australian Associated Stock Exchanges (AASE) was established, with representatives from each exchange. Over time the AASE established uniform listing rules, broker rules, and commission rates.

Trading was conducted by a call system, where an exchange employee called the names of each company and brokers bid or offered on each. In the 1960s this changed to a post system. Exchange employees called "chalkies" wrote bids and offers in chalk on blackboards continuously, and recorded transactions made.^[10]

The ASX (Australian Stock Exchange Limited) was formed in 1987 by legislation of the Australian Parliament which enabled the amalgamation of six independent stock exchanges that formerly operated in the state capital cities. After demutualisation the ASX was the first exchange in the world to have its shares quoted on its own market. The ASX was listed on 14 October 1998.^[11] On 7 July 2006 the Australian Stock Exchange merged with SFE Corporation, holding company for the Sydney Futures Exchange.

Timeline of significant events[link]

1969–1970: The Poseidon bubble (a mining boom triggered by a nickel discovery in Western Australia) caused Australian mining shares to soar and then crash, prompting regulatory recommendations that ultimately led to Australia's national companies and securities legislation.

1976: The Australian Options Market was established, trading call options.

1980: The separate Melbourne and Sydney stock exchange indices were replaced by Australian Stock Exchange indices.

1984: Brokers' commission rates were deregulated. Commissions have gradually fallen ever since, with rates today as low as 0.12% or 0.05% from discount internet-based brokers.

1987: Following work begun in 1985, the separate exchanges merged to form the ASX. Also in 1987, the all-electronic SEATS trading system (below) was introduced. It started on just a limited range of stocks; progressively all stocks were moved to it and the trading floors were closed in 1990.

1990: A warrants market was established.

1993: Fixed-interest securities were added (see Interest rate market below). Also in 1993, the FAST system of accelerated settlement was established, and the following year the CHESS system (see Settlement below) was introduced, superseding FAST.

1994: The Sydney Futures Exchange announced trading in futures over individual ASX stocks. The ASX responded with the Low Exercise Price Option or LEPO (see below). The SFE went to court,^[12][13] claiming that LEPOs were futures and therefore that the ASX could not offer them. However, the court held they were options and so LEPOs were introduced in 1995.

1995: Stamp duty on share transactions was halved from 0.3% to 0.15%. The ASX had agreed with the Queensland State Government to locate staff in Brisbane in exchange for the stamp duty reduction there, and the other states followed suit so as not to lose brokerage business to Queensland. In 2000 stamp duty was abolished in all states as part of the introduction of the GST.

1996: The exchange members (brokers etc.) voted to demutualise. The exchange was incorporated as ASX Limited and in 1998 the company was listed on the ASX itself, with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission enforcing the listing rules for ASX Limited.

1997: Electronic trading commences as the option market moves from floor to screen.^[14] A phased transition to the electronic CLICK system for derivatives began.

2000: In October, ASX acquires a 15% stake in the trading and order management software company IRESS (formerly BridgeDFS Ltd).^[15]

2001: Stamp duty on marketable securities was abolished.

2006: The ASX announced a merger with the Sydney Futures Exchange, the primary derivatives exchange in Australia.

2010: The ASX announced a merger with Singapore Exchange.

2011: Treasurer Wayne Swan finds the proposed merger with the Singapore Stock Exchange to not be in the best interests of Australia and refuses to grant permission for the merger.

Trading systems[link]

As at 29 November 2010, all ASX Equity products are screen traded on a platform called ASX Trade. ASX Trade is a NASDAQ OMX ultra-low latency trading platform based on NASDAQ OMX's Genium INET system. Many exchanges around the world use a trading platform supplied by NASDAQ OMX.^[16]

Settlement[link]

Investors hold shares in one of two forms. Both operate as uncertificated holdings (rather than through the issue of physical share certificates):

• Issuer-sponsored. The company's share register administers the investor's holding and issues the investor with a security-holder reference number (SRN) which may be quoted when selling.

• Clearing House Electronic Sub-register System (CHESS). The investor's controlling participant (normally a broker) sponsors the client into CHESS. The investor is given a holder identification number (HIN) and monthly statements are sent to the investor from the CHESS system when there is a movement in their holding that month.

Holdings may be moved from issuer-sponsored to CHESS or between different brokers by electronic message initiated by the controlling participant.

Short selling[link]

Short selling of shares is permitted on the ASX, but only among designated stocks and with certain conditions:

• ASX Trading Participants (brokers) must report all daily gross short sales to ASX. The report will aggregate the gross short sales as reported by each Trading participant at an individual stock level.
• ASX publishes aggregate gross short sales to ASX participants and the general public.^[17]

Many brokers do not offer short selling to small private investors. LEPOs (below) can serve as an equivalent, while contracts for difference (CFDs) offered by third-party providers are another alternative.

In September 2008, ASIC suspended nearly all forms of short selling due to concerns about market stability in the ongoing global financial crisis.^[18][19] The ban on covered short selling was lifted in May 2009.^[20]

Further to this - the biggest change in this space for ASX in the last 15 years was the introduction of Settlement Rule 10.11.12. If you cannot provide stocks when settlement is due, ASX forces your clearer to go into the market and cover themselves.

e.g.

ASTC Settlement Rule 10.11.12 requires that if a Failed Settlement Shortfall exists on the second Business Day after the day on which the Rescheduled Batch Instruction was originally scheduled for settlement (that is, generally on T+5), the delivering Settlement Participant must either:

• close out the Failed Settlement Shortfall on the next Business Day by purchasing the number of Financial Products of the relevant class equal to the Failed Settlement Shortfall; or
• acquire under a securities lending arrangement the number of Financial Products of the relevant class equal to the Failed Settlement Shortfall and deliver those Financial Products in Batch Settlement no more than two Business Days later.^[21]

Options[link]

Options on leading shares are traded on the ASX, with standardised sets of strike prices and expiry dates. Liquidity is provided by market makers who are required to provide quotes. Each market maker is assigned two or more stocks. A stock can have more than one market maker, and they compete with one another. A market maker may choose one or both of:

• Make a market continuously, on a set of 18 options.
• Make a market in response to a quote request, in any option up to 9 months out.

In both cases there is a minimum quantity (5 or 10 contracts depending on the shares) and a maximum spread permitted.

Due to the higher risks in options, brokers must check clients' suitability before allowing them to trade options. Clients may both take (i.e. buy) and write (i.e. sell) options. For written positions, the client must put up margin.

Interest rate market[link]

The ASX interest rate market is the set of corporate bonds, floating rate notes, and bond-like preference shares listed on the exchange. These securities are traded and settled in the same way as ordinary shares, but the ASX provides information such as their maturity, effective interest rate, etc., to aid comparison.

Futures[link]

The Sydney Futures Exchange (SFE) – now a part of the ASX – was the 10th largest derivatives exchange in the world, providing derivatives in interest rates, equities, currencies and commodities. It provided futures and options on the four most actively traded markets - interest rates, equities, currencies and commodities including wool and cattle. Its most active products are:^{[clarification needed]}

• SPI 200 Futures – Futures contracts on an index representing the largest 200 stocks on the Australian Stock Exchange by market capitalisation.
• AU 90-day Bank Accepted Bill Futures – Australia's equivalent of T-Bill futures.
• 3-Year Bond Futures – Futures contracts on Australian 3-year bonds
• 10-Year Bond Futures – Futures contracts on Australian 10-year bonds.

The ASX trades futures over the ASX 50, ASX 200 and ASX property indexes, and over grain, electricity and wool. Options over grain futures are also traded.

Market indices[link]

The ASX maintains stock indexes concerning stocks traded on the exchange in conjunction with Standard & Poor's. There is a hierarchy of index groups called the S&P/ASX 20, S&P/ASX 50, S&P/ASX 100, S&P/ASX 200 and S&P/ASX 300, notionally containing the 20, 50, 100, 200 and 300 largest companies listed on the exchange, subject to some qualifications.

ASX Sharemarket Game[link]

Gain market experience with a 'virtual' share portfolio using real market prices. ASX runs Schools and Public Games. Hypothetically invest $50,000 in the stock exchange. Players buy and sell shares at current market prices and track the progress of their investments over the duration of the game.^[22]

Market Supervision[link]

On 1 August 2010 responsibility for the supervision of real-time trading on Australia’s domestic licensed financial markets and the supervision of the conduct by participants (including the relationship between participants and their clients) on those markets transferred to ASIC.

ASX retained responsibility for ensuring participants admitted to its market comply with its operating rules. The new arrangements did not change ASX’s existing oversight of listed entities or the obligations on ASX’s clearing and settlement facility operators.

ASX retained a subsidiary company to fulfil the obligations of each of the licensed entities in the ASX Group to monitor and enforce compliance with the ASX operating rules after the transfer. The name of the subsidiary was changed to ASX Compliance, as the previous name - ASX Markets Supervision - no longer properly described the subsidiary’s role within the ASX Group or ASX’s ongoing obligations.

Merger Talks With SGX[link]

ASX was (25 October 2010) in merger talks with Singapore Exchange (SGX). The merger would have created a bourse with a market value of US$14 billion.^[23]

The merger was blocked by the Australian Federal Treasurer on 8 April 2011. ^[24]

See also[link]

• List of stock exchanges
• List of futures exchanges
• Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) listed on ASX
• All Ordinaries
• Category:Companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange

References[link]

[2] ASX Market Phases updated 5/11/2007

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Australian Securities Exchange

• Official website
• ASX Annual Report 2009

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Roger Montgomery (1925–2003) was a city planner, urban designer, architect, and educator.

Biography[link]

He was born in New York City to parents Graham Livingston Montgomery and Anne Cook and lived in Greenwich Village until 1930, when he moved to Port Washington, Long Island. Roger's father died suddenly from a heart attack in 1942. In 1945 he was accepted into the army, where he served in an intelligence unit in occupied Germany as a radio operator. On April 23, 1949 Roger married Oberlin College graduate Mary Hoyt. Roger has four sons, Richard Wallace (born 1956), Thomas Vinton (1958), John 1960, and Peter George (1965). In 1957 Roger was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He died of cancer on October 25, 2003.

Training[link]

Roger attended a John Dewey-influenced grade school in Port Washington, which emphasized mechanical skills over traditional subjects such as reading and writing. In high school he was voted ‘Most Likely to Succeed’ and ‘The Great Orator’. He was excused from military service in 1941 because of a punctured eardrum and subsequently enrolled in Oberlin College,^[1] but was dismissed from the college in 1945. Roger began his architectural work in 1948 as an apprentice in Springfield, Ohio and was soon successful, in part because of a shortage of architects and large post-war boom in construction. From 1955 to 1956 Roger attended the Harvard Graduate School of Design^[2] where he received a Masters of Architecture degree under professors Josep Lluís Sert and Sigfried Giedion, while studying with classmates Fumihiko Maki and Ben Weese.

Accomplishments[link]

• 1957: Began position as professor of architecture at Washington University in St. Louis. Also named founding Director (1957–1963) of the Landmarks Association of St. Louis, one of the nation's first building and neighborhood preservation groups.
• 1960: Started the architectural practice of Schnebli, Anselevicius, and Montgomery (SAM) that designed the Washington University Law School Building in 1972. Founded the Urban Design Program at Washington University with Fumihiko Maki^[3]
• 1961: Worked for the Kennedy Administration as the first Urban Design Officer in the Federal Housing and Home Finance Agency (later HUD).
• 1964: Named founding Director of Washington University's Urban Renewal Design Center and planned and designed ‘Towne South’, a community outside of St. Louis
• 1965: Named founding Director of the Urban Housing Foundation, Inc. (1965–1967).
• 1967: Hired as professor with joint appointment in both the departments of City & Regional Planning, and of Architecture, at the University of California, Berkeley.
• 1968: Named a juror from the Progressive Architecture P/A Design Awards.
• 1967-72: Served as west coast editor for Architecture Forum^[4] magazine.
• 1973: Published Housing in America (co-authored with Daniel Mandelker), a survey of housing economics, race, and land use issues. Also published A Guide to Architecture in San Francisco and Northern California (co-authored with David Gebhard and Sally Woodbridge).
• 1977: Published a guide to the architecture and vernacular buildings of Washington State, titled A guide to architecture in Washington State: an environmental perspective.^[5]
• 1980s: During this period Montgomery served as President of the California Council of Architectural Education, and the National Board of Architects, Designers and Planners for Social Responsibility. Additionally, he served on boards for a number of voluntary organizations related to the design professions including Planners for Equal Opportunity, Planners Network and Northern California Non-Profit Housing Coalition. In the Bay Area, Montgomery advised City and County boards in Berkeley, Alameda County, Santa Clara and San Francisco. Montgomery was also named Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs and later Acting Dean.
• May 1, 1989: Named Dean of the College of Environmental Design, University of California, Berkeley, a position he holds until January 1996. During 1989, Montgomery was named to the Board of Trustees of the Berkeley Art Museum, a position he holds until 2002.

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Roger Montgomery obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle
• Press Release from University of California, Berkeley
• In Memorium from the University of California