PSE starts trading under one roof at new BGC office
By Dane Angelo M. Enerio
The Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. (PSE) opened its first trading day at its new headquarters in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) on Monday, Feb. 19.
PSE President Ramon S. Monzon and Chairman Jose T. Pardo, alongside other company executives, officially started the trading day by ringing the two bells from the PSE’s two previous trading floors, symbolizing the unity of the once physically separated exchange.
“Welcome to our new home… We’re finally all here,” said Mr. Pardo.
“The most important milestone in this room is that we now witness here, at the trading floor, for the first time, traders from the old Manila Stock Exchange and the old Makati Stock Exchange now share one trading floor,” Mr. Pardo added.
The new office — estimated to have cost P3.5 billion — is situated at One Bonifacio High Street, a tower located along 28th Street corner 5th Avenue and part of Ayala Land Premiere’s prime real estate block in BGC, Taguig City.
Prior to the move, the PSE operated two trading floors in Metro Manila as a result of the merger of the Manila Stock Exchange and the Makati Stock Exchange back in 1992. The first one was located at the PSE Plaza Ayala Triangle, Ayala Tower One in Makati City, and the other being at the Philippine Stock Exchange Centre, Tektite Towers in Pasig City.
Both bourses traded the same stocks of the same companies at the same prices despite being separated.
Mr. Pardo also revealed plans of creating a PSE museum that will let people see the company’s “rich history” and emphasized how the space the new office offers will give them the ability to “grow and support initiatives” for programs in the country.
The PSE last month was named Southeast Asia’s best stock exchange by investment magazine Alpha Southeast Asia, making this the fourth time they received the award in five years.
