A series of four workshops on the "Unification of the transactional rules of the Central American Stock Exchanges" attended by representatives of the National Stock Exchange of Costa Rica (BNV), Bolsa de Valores de El Salvador (BVES) and the Stock Exchange of Panama (BVP) ended this Tuesday in San Jose.
The workshops, which began in December 2007 - were organized by the participant Stock Exchanges and benefited from the cooperation of the Trade and Integration Department of the Inter-American Development Bank. Through this cooperation, it was possible to learn about the experience accumulated by OMX in integrating the various markets making up the Nordic Exchange. OMX is considered to be one of the world's leading supplier of systems for exchanges.
During the meetings that took place in Costa Rica, El Salvador and Panama, the exchanges’ general managers were able to agree on the model for the market and business model that they will need to follow in the future.
At the end of the last meeting, José Rafael Brenes, BNV general manager, noted that the workshops had defined "the scope and plan of action of what will be a major alliance among regional exchanges".
"This action plan envisages the setting up of a company in which all three exchanges will participate on a equal basis." he said.
In a letter of intent - which the Boards of Directors of the participating Exchanges must approve by the end of May 2008 at the latest – the general managers defined what the remaining tasks will be.
"We have defined, among other things, issues related to cooperation, coordination and planning. In addition the new company of which the three exchanges will be part of, will become an important forum for keeping a better control on what was agreed, "said Roberto Brenes, general manager of the BVP.”
Once these agreements between the Stock Exchanges were completed, the general managers presented a report with the results of the workshops to regulators of Costa Rica, El Salvador and Panama, in order to review the regulatory framework in these countries.
During the meeting with the regulators, Olver Luis Bernal, a financial specialist from IADB, stressed the importance for the regulators and the stock exchanges to coordinate their efforts in order to facilitate the regional integration of the Central American markets.
He said: "Integration is something we have to facilitate. Today there is a need to operate increasingly integrated markets. Regulators and stock-brokers who operate on the markets have the responsibility to facilitate the development and integration of the markets and to make sure that they operate in the safest possible manner."Among other issues, regulators recognized that there could be cross memberships, which would allow an exchange member duly authorized by its home market – to be admitted to another market.
"This allows to concentrate the liquidity of the regional issues on their home markets. This facilitates the participation of issuers and investors, including those that are outside of the Central American area" noted Javier Mayora, general manager of BVES.
The general managers, who will represent the stock exchanges in the company from where they will manage the alliance, said that the meeting with the regulators from the three countries will undoubtedly constitute a key element in the integration progress of the exchanges in the region.
