Asean securities regulators have agreed to a plan to integrate regional capital markets by 2015.

Market regulators of Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore will be the first within Asean to sign the agreement later this month. The plan is a key milestone under a broader programme to create an Asean Economic Community in six years.

Once complete, the Asean capital market will account for 15% of total global market capitalisation.

Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala, the secretary-general of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said the plan will have several phases.

The first phase, running from this year till 2010, will focus on wholesale markets for institutional and qualified investors, and cover details such as documentation presented in a common language and legal jurisdiction.

Phase two, from 2011 to 2012, will focus on mutual recognition of rules for securities offerings, while phase three (2013-2015) will see Asean investors trade products freely.

Mr Thirachai, the chair of the Asean Capital Markets Forum (ACMF), a group representing regional regulators, said obstacles include capital controls in each country and different tax systems.

The ACMF will propose the plan to Asean finance ministers in April.

"For the international community, we hope to achieve two important aims. First, at the end of the timeline, Asean financial products will naturally be viewed more as a class rather than individually," Mr Thirachai said.

"Second, Asean markets will become equally attractive as a market for fund-raising as they are for investment."

Mr Thirachai said accounting standards were not expected to be a problem, as the "Big Four" accounting firms already operate across the region with globally accepted accounting standards.

According to the SEC, 268 out of the 503 listed companies in Thailand were audited as of the third quarter of 2008 by either KPMG Poomchai, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Jaiyos, PricewaterhouseCoopers or Ernst and Young.

Once complete, the integrated Asean capital market would allow free trade of products across any exchange from a single access point.

Mr Thirachai said strengthening the position of Asean as a group was critical considering the competitive pressures in the global marketplace. Otherwise, each individual Asean market risks fading away from global investors' maps.

"This is a very major move for Asean capital markets. For financial institutions worldwide, this has two important implications. First, for those who have operations linked to Asean, the business scope and opportunities will be much broader," Mr Thirachai said.

"Second, for those who invest in Asean, the products will become more uniform as to the standards and the procedures."