According to SGX, the Asean trading link between Singapore and Malaysia has started. This post is a follow up to the original post Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) linking with Bursa Malaysia and Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) in 2012.

However, even after the link has started there is no noticeable difference to investors. Most local brokerages already allow cross border investing, so the access is already there. What I hoped for was that the foreign custody fees and corporate action fees would be reduced or removed to allow Singaporeans to invest in Malaysian stocks and vice versa without additional fees. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case as I checked a couple of brokerages and the fees have not changed at all.

It is supposed to provide cost savings for brokers, but I guess it will be some time before some of the cost savings will be passed to consumers, that is ...