20060404 Bursamalaysia held a "Forum on Abolition of Local Member Fee". Outcome was that the proposal to go before the Board was to remove the entrance fee requirement and the annual subscription for Local Participants. The objective is to attract more Local Participant to join the industry as professional traders. The old requirements of minimum educational qualification, passing of the MFORR exams and suitability interview apply. In essence, this provides an opportunity for those interested to take up a career in professional derivatives trading as a business to trade on Bursamalaysia products at reduced cost of execution, as fee rebates and concessions are available to Local Participants. Profits made from trading on own account as Local Participant, however are taxable as income, with 70% rebate. However timeframe could be 1 to 2 months away, as Bursa Board and SC approval is sought.

Exchange though is looking to reimpose the minimum volume traded to qualify for the day trade/scratch rebate, so that serious traders will be attracted. A local participant put up a ludricous number of 3000 contracts per month. I think that 200 is reasonable.