The bond markets of the CEE Stock Exchange Group (CEESEG), which comprise the exchanges of Budapest, Ljubljana, Prague and Vienna as 100% subsidiaries, performed excellently last year. In Vienna alone, 544 new listings and inclusions in trading with an issuing volume of EUR 52.3 billion were recorded. Also, in Budapest, Ljubljana and Prague the number of new bond listings and their volumes went up versus 2009. Particularly pleasing is the rise in government bonds issues: The CEESEG Group posted an increase of EUR 15.2 billion in 2010, which is a gain of 6.14% versus the previous year.
Due to the stricter capital requirements that are planned for banks and which will make corporate loans more expensive, the managing directors of the CEE Stock Exchange Group and of the Vienna Stock Exchange, Michael Buhl and Heinrich Schaller, expect to see more companies turn to corporate bonds to raise financing in 2011; therefore, issuing activity is expected to liven up in the near future.