Taiwan's stock exchange expects the limit for gains and losses for share prices to be raised "anytime" after detailing the proposal in the Legislative Yuan Tuesday, Chairman Schive Chi said.

The bourse is waiting for the government's approval to raise the daily cap for price movements to 10 percent from 7 percent, which may happen this year, he said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

"It can be implemented anytime," Schive, 62, said, adding, "From the Taiwan Stock Exchange's point of view, we are ready."

Taiwan, which has Asia's fourth-largest emerging stock market, is advancing its ambition of becoming an international fund-raising center while widening options for local investors. The benchmark Taiex index rose 0.8 percent at the close, the second-best performer among Asian stock measures Tuesday.

"It will improve liquidity in the market," Monika Yang, who helps oversee $2 billion at Hamon Asset Management Ltd in Hong Kong, said by phone Tuesday, adding, "The best scenario would be to have no trading limit at all, but an improvement from 7 percent would be better than the current situation."

The FTSE Group didn't upgrade Taiwan to a developed market in its review last year, saying the island must overcome obstacles by taking measures that include having a freer currency and implementing changes to stock lending rules. The Taiex has fallen 6.1 percent this year, the seventh-worst among 93 measures tracked by Bloomberg.

The higher daily limit may help draw more investors as Taiwan and the mainland seek to permit trading of each other's shares for the first time.

Taiwan's financial regulator asked for measures such as mechanisms to halt trading to help make the transition for the new trading limit, Sean Chen, chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission, told legislators Tuesday.

Schive said the Taiwan bourse will introduce measures to make trading more "transparent" and a so-called uptick rule, requiring short sales to be entered at a price higher than the previous trade.

"We have to adapt to the uptick measures, which are quite popular elsewhere," he said, adding, "When those measures are ready, that's about the time the government will say 'go'."

China Daily/Bloomberg News

(HK Edition 03/17/2010 page4)