Extraordinary General Meeting of Bolsas y Mercados Españoles - BME's Structure Is Consolidated - Banco De España Transfers Its Stake In Iberclear To BME In Exchange For A 9.78% Of Its Share Capital

Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME), the company that integrates the Spanish stock markets and the registry, clearing and settlement systems today held its Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM). During the EGM a capital increase of € 65.4 Million was approved which will allow BME to integrate 39.7 % of Iberclear's stock capital, which until the transaction was held by Banco de España. Also BME has partially reshuffled its Board of Directors by incorporating Ignacio Benjumea, who will replace José Manuel Arroyo representing Santander Central Hispano.

The capital increase approved at the EGM consists of an issue of 8,178,341 ordinary shares with a € 4 face value each and an € 4 issue premium. The capital increase will allow Banco de España to hold a 9.78 % stake in Bolsas y Mercados Españoles. By increasing its capital BME has consolidated the development of its company structure, which now allows the company to hold all the stock capital of the group's companies, namely: the stock markets Bolsa de Barcelona, Bolsa de Bilbao, Bolsa de Madrid and Bolsa de Valencia as well as Iberclear, Meff , Aiaf, Senaf and FC&M.

The process, which is now finished, started with the so-called Protocolo de Mercados Españoles, which laid the foundations for the creation of BME. In the "Acuerdo para la creación de Bolsas y Mercados Españoles, Sociedad Holding de Mercados y Sistemas Financieros, S.A." it is established as the last stage of the process that "once the legal arrangements are approved to enable Banco de España to transfer to BME the relevant resources established by the legislation to fulfil its functions with respect of the Fixed Income Market, adequate procedures and terms will be established for the participation of Banco de España in the stock capital of the holding company"

Iberclear (the brand used by Sociedad de Gestión de los Sistemas de Registro, Compensación y Liquidación de Valores, S.A, a company incorporated according to the Ley de Medidas de Reforma del Sistema Financiero (Ley Financiera)) is the Spanish central securities depository. It runs the accounting, clearing and settlement process of securities represented through book-entry system and traded on the Spanish stock markets, the Mercado de Deuda Pública en Anotaciones, SENAF, AIAF Mercado de Renta Fija and Mercado de Valores Latinoamericanos.

With the capital increase Bolsas y Mercados Españoles will fulfil its business commitment to "assuming the action, decision-making and strategic co-ordination of its markets and systems and developing to this end such operational, functional and structural improvements as are necessary to enhance the markets efficiency and visibility"

TRADING VOLUMES

Between January and August 2003, share trading volumes reached € 525,313 Million, which leverages BME as the fourth largest European market, after London (€1,995,066 Million), Euronext (€ 1,089,487 Million) and Deutsche Börse (€ 722,000 Million).

Also important are the company's derivatives markets, which between January and August traded over 20 million contracts. As for warrants, 2,014 were traded in the first eight months of the year, a 37 % increase on the same period last year. The value of the premiums traded during that period was € 1.160 bn, representing a 69 % increase on the same period last year.

As for the public fixed income market, trading volumes reached between January and August came in at 1.7 trillion euros, a 12 % increase on the same period last year. The private fixed income sector, which is undergoing booming growth, posted a trading volume of € 236,492 Million during the same period, a 34 % increase on the same period in 2002.