Pessimism persists over high Asia trading costs

Fixed trading costs such as stamp duty and other taxes are notoriously high in Asia ex-Japan, and many are not optimistic about the prospect of them coming down. That is the view of both Nicola Nicoletti*, head of investment strategy and risk at Hong Kong asset manager Enhanced Investment Products (EIP), and Ofir Gefen, head of Asia-Pacific research and liquidity management at agency broker ITG. “I don’t think costs have come down in the past few years. Stamp duties are still ve…