The RMS launched a new online program Sept. 18 that will allow small companies to benefit from to small local investors — something the Czech market has long needed, analysts say.

The program, called EasyClick, simplifies the trading process on the RMS and significantly reduces fees for individual transactions. The move is aimed at streamlining stock trading for small and midsize investors and boosting activity.

Previously, small firms had no way of using publicly traded shares to grow because holding an initial public offering on the Prague Stock Exchange (PSE) is too expensive and requires a lot of administrative work. Meanwhile, investor activity on the RMS was too low, which made no sense for the companies to offer their shares there.

“The capital market offered no possibilities for small companies to raise money,” said Petr Bártek, an analyst at Cyrrus brokerage house.

EasyClick should also make trading more attractive for investors buying or selling small quantities of stocks worth less than 1 million Kă ($44,543).

“This system is designed for an average person who, for example, inherited a house, sold it and wants to invest in some stock,” said Radim Dohnal, director of the RMS chain of branches.

Investors using EasyClick can manage their stock online without a broker.

EasyClick currently allows investors to trade 11 blue-chip stocks, including electricity producer âEZ, Komerăní banka, Telefónica O2 and Unipetrol. It will also offer shares of some companies that are no longer traded on the PSE, such as Mittal Steel Ostrava, truck maker Tatra and steelworks Třinecké Ďelezárny.

Analysts have hailed the new program, saying it will increase liquidity on the RMS, which has seen a sharp decline in investor activity in the past several years.

“This is a very good step for small investors,” said TomበMatu‰ka, a broker at BH Securities brokerage house. “And it will attract larger volumes of money to the RMS.”

By the end of the year, the RMS plans to increase its daily trading turnover by more than five times its current average of 10 million Kă.

The program is also expected to help make the RMS a legitimate alternative to the PSE for small domestic companies, which could choose the RMS to trade their shares.

“An interesting market segment can emerge for small companies that need to raise tens of millions crowns,” Bártek said.

Changes to come

The RMS was founded in the early 1990s to handle the needs of coupon privatization for small investors.

Unlike the PSE, it offered more relaxed conditions for companies wanting to sell their shares on an open market.

Gradually, however, its popularity declined due to high fees.

“The RM System failed to meet the needs of the developing economy and capital markets,” Bártek said.

In 2001, the RMS handled 45 percent of all small investor–trading transactions; the rest went through the PSE. But, by 2005, that share was as low as 20 percent.

The RMS company was acquired Sept. 5 by Petr Marsa and Romuald Kopun, the owners of Fio, the country’s largest brokerage firm for small and midsize investors.

The new owners plan to overhaul the company, which has 58 branch offices all over the country, and make it a functioning alternative to the PSE, Fio spokesman Ján Franek said.

EasyClick is the first in a number of changes that the RMS is expected to make in the coming months, he said.