His Excellency Lee Myung-bak, President of the Republic of Korea, today visited the New York Stock Exchange, the world’s leading equities market and a subsidiary of NYSE Euronext (NYX), where he rang the opening bell.
“We are honored to have President Lee and his delegation visit the New York Stock Exchange and open our trading day,” said NYSE Euronext CEO Duncan L. Niederauer. “We are very proud of our relationship with the Republic of Korea and its NYSE-listed companies, and look forward to further building on this great partnership.”
“Thank you for inviting me. Through this visit, I would like to let the world know that we are committed to deregulation and economic reform, that we welcome foreign companies, and that today we have a new Korea. And I hope the bilateral relationship between the U.S. and Korea will become closer,” President Lee said during his visit.
President Lee is making his first official visit to the US as President since taking office in February 2008, and this is the second time that he visits the Exchange. On March 17, 2006 , His Excellency Lee Myung-bak visited the New York Stock Exchange, in his then role as Mayor of Seoul.
Background about non-U.S. and Korean companies on NYSE Euronext:
- The total market capitalization of NYSE Euronext-listed companies reached USD $27.3 / €17.3 trillion at the end of March 2008, larger than the next four largest exchanges combined, with an average daily trading value of approximately $169.6 / €113.2 billion. Trading on NYSE Euronext markets are over 4,600 issuers from 55 countries, with 70 of the world’s 100 largest companies listed on its markets.
- The NYSE is the premier U.S. listing venue for non-U.S. companies with 415 companies from 45 countries with a global market capitalization of $10.0 trillion. In Europe , Euronext counts 223 foreign companies from 23 countries.
- The NYSE lists 8 companies from South Korea , with a total market capitalization of approximately $178 billion (as of April 2008). The average market capitalization of an NYSE-listed Korean company is $22.5 billion, ranging from $14 billion to $43 billion.
About NYSE Euronext
NYSE Euronext (NYX) operates the world’s leading and most liquid exchange group, and seeks to provide the highest levels of quality, customer choice and innovation. Its family of exchanges, located in six countries, include the New York Stock Exchange, the world's largest cash equities market; Euronext, the Eurozone's largest cash equities market; Liffe, Europe's leading derivatives exchange by value of trading; and NYSE Arca Options, one of the fastest growing U.S. options trading platforms. NYSE Euronext offers a diverse array of financial products and services for issuers, investors and financial institutions in cash equities, options and derivatives, ETFs, bonds, market data, and commercial technology solutions. NYSE Euronext's nearly 4,000 listed companies represent a combined $30.5 trillion/€20.9 trillion in total global market capitalization (as of Dec. 31, 2007 ), more than four times that of any other exchange group. NYSE Euronext's equity exchanges transact an average daily trading value of approximately $141 billion/€103 billion (as of Dec. 31, 2007 ), which represents more than one-third of the world's cash equities trading. NYSE Euronext is part of the S&P 500 index and the only exchange operator in the S&P 100 index. For more information, please visit www.nyx.com.
