BM&FBOVESPA hosted an event today that marked the start of trading in the benchmark equity index futures contracts of the founding members of the BRICS Exchanges Alliance of the BRICS countries, representing the emerging markets bloc. Invited to the traditional ringing of the opening bell were Ambassador Affonso de Alencastro Massot, head of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry’s representative office in São Paulo, as well as the consuls to Brazil Mikhail Troyanskiy (Russia), G.V Srinivas (India), Hy Ying (China) and Yusuf Omar (South Africa). Representing BM&FBOVESPA were Equity Products Officer Julio Ziegelman and the consultant Marta Alves (see photo).
The alliance was announced on October 12, 2011, and alongside the Brazilian exchange is constituted of those of Russia (MICEX-RTS); India (Bombay Stock Exchange - BSE) Limited); China (initially represented by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited - HKEx); and South Africa (Johannesburg Stock Exchange Limited - JSE). With the exception of the Russian Exchange, all of the others also held ceremonies to celebrate the start of trading in equity index futures contracts of the BRICS countries.
The five exchanges aim to expand their product offerings beyond their home markets and give investors of each exchange exposure to the dynamic, emerging, and increasingly important BRICS economies. After this initial phase, which encompassed the project for cross-listing the benchmark indices of the BRICS exchanges, the next phase will be the development of a composite index that will represent the five exchanges and which has already been named BRICSMART. The third phase foresees product development and cooperation towards additional services.