The World Federation Of Exchanges & Five Partner Organisations Bring Together 80 Exchanges To ‘Ring The Bell For Gender Equality’

The World Federation of Exchanges ("WFE"), the global industry group for exchanges and CCPs, is pleased to confirm that its member exchanges are taking part in the fifth annual 'Ring the Bell for Gender Equality' initiative.

For the fifth consecutive year, a global collaboration across 80 exchanges around the world plan to ring opening or closing bells to celebrate International Women’s Day 2019 (Friday 8 March 2019).

The events are a partnership between IFC, Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative, UN Global Compact, UN Women, the World Federation of Exchanges and Women in ETFs, to raise awareness about the business case for women’s economic empowerment and the opportunities for the private sector to advance gender equality and sustainable development.

The UN Women’s theme for International Women’s Day 2019 is ‘Think equal, build smart, innovate for change’. The theme focuses on innovative ways in which the private sector can advance gender equality and women’s empowerment, particularly in the areas of social protection systems, access to public services, and sustainable infrastructure.

In addition to the bell ringing events, the six bell ringing partner organisations applaud the work done to date, and encourage exchanges to take further action to improve gender equality in their markets. Recommended actions include signing the CEO Statement of Support for the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs); promoting gender equality in the workforce; introducing gender equality standards and supporting gender-equality themed investment products; providing guidance, training, mentoring, and education to market participants on gender equality and the role of gender diversity in business performance; and encouraging or requiring listed companies to publicly report on relevant gender metrics.

In March 2018, a record 65 exchanges rang their bells for gender equality, and this year looks set to be even bigger, with 80 exchanges confirmed as taking part.

Nandini Sukumar, CEO, WFE said: “We are pleased so many WFE members are participating in this important initiative, which has gone from strength to strength over the past five years. We are proud to raise awareness about this essential social and economic issue, both within the financial sector, and on a wider, global scale.”

Exchanges taking part this year:

Country	Exchange	Date of Event	Opening/Closing
Argentina	Bolsas y Mercados Argentinos (BYMA)	12th March	Opening
Armenia	Armenia Securities Exchange	12th March	Opening
Australia	Australian Securities Exchange	8th March	Opening
Bahrain	Bahrain Bourse	14th March	TBC
Bangladesh	Chittagong Stock Exchange	7th March
Bangladesh	Dhaka Stock Exchange	12th March	Opening
Belgium	Euronext Brussels	8th March	Opening
Brazil	B3	8th March	Opening
Canada	Aequitas NEO Exchange	8th March	Opening
Canada	Toronto Stock Exchange	8th March	Opening
Chile	Bolsa de Comercio de Santiago	21st March	TBC
Colombia	Bolsa de Valores de Colombia	3rd April	Opening
Costa Rica	Bolsa Nacional de Valores	11th March	Closing
Croatia	Zagreb Stock Exchange	8th March
Denmark	Nasdaq Copenhagen	8th March	Opening
Egypt	Cairo Stock Exchange	4th March	Opening
Estonia	Nasdaq Tallinn	8th March	Opening
Ethiopia	Ethiopia Stock Exchange	6th March	Closing
Fiji	South Pacific Stock Exchange	8th March	Opening
Finland	Nasdaq Helsinki	8th March	Opening
France	Euronext Paris	8th March	Opening
Georgia	Georgian Stock Exchange	12th March	Closing
Germany	Deutsche Börse	8th March	Opening
Greece	Athens Stock Exchange	8th March
HK	Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing	8th March	Opening
Iceland	Nasdaq Iceland	8th March	Opening
India	National Stock Exchange of India	8th March	Closing
Indonesia	Indonesia Stock Exchange	13th March	TBC
Iraq	Iraq Stock Exchange	10th March	Opening
Ireland	Euronext Dublin	8th March	Opening
Israel	Tel Aviv Stock Exchange	3rd March	Opening
Italy	Borsa Italiana	8th March	Opening
Jamaica	Jamaica Stock Exchange	8th March	Opening
Japan	Japan Exchange Group	8th March	Opening
Kazakhstan	Kazakhstan Stock Exchange	7th March	Closing
Kenya	Nairobi Securities Exchange	8th March	Opening
Kuwait	Boursa Kuwait	7th March	Closing
Latvia	Nasdaq Riga	8th March	Opening
Lebanon	Beirut Stock Exchange	7th March	Closing
Lithuania	Nasdaq Vilnius	8th March	Opening
Luxembourg	Luxembourg Stock Exchange	8th March
Malaysia	Bursa Malaysia	14th March	Opening
Mexico	Bolsa Mexicana de Valores	8th March	Opening
Mongolia	Mongolian Stock Exchange	7^th March	Opening
Myanmar	Yangon Stock Exchange	8th March	Closing
Nepal	Nepal Stock Exchange Limited	8th March
Netherlands	Euronext Amsterdam	8th March	Opening
Nigeria	Nigeria Stock Exchange	8th March	Closing
Norway	Oslo Bors	8th March
Pakistan	Pakistan Stock Exchange	8th March	Opening
Palestine	Palestine Exchange	11th March	TBC
Panama	Bolsa de Panama	15th March	TBC
Peru	Bolsa de Valores de Lima	12th March	Opening
Philippines	Philippine Stock Exchange	8th March	Closing
Poland	Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE)	8th March	Opening
Portugal	Euronext Lisbon	8th March
Qatar	Qatar Stock Exchange	10th March	Opening
Regional*	BRVM Stock Exchange	8th March	Opening
Romania	Bucharest Stock Exchange	8th March	Opening
Russia	MOEX Moscow	12th March	Opening
Rwanda	Rwanda Stock Exchange	10th March	Opening
Saudi Arabia	Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul)	7th March
Serbia	Belgrade Stock Exchange	14th March	TBC
Singapore	Singapore Exchange	5th March	Closing
Slovenia	Ljubljana Stock Exchange	8th March
South Africa	Johannesburg Stock Exchange	8th March	Opening
Spain	Bolsas y Mercados Españoles	8th March
Sri Lanka	Colombo Stock Exchange	7th March
Sweden	Nasdaq Stockholm	8th March	Opening
Switzerland	SIX Swiss Exchange	8th March	Opening
Tanzania	Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange PLC	8th March
Tunisia	Tunis Stock Exchange	8th March
Uganda	Uganda Securities Exchange	w/c 17th March	TBC
UK	London Stock Exchange	12th March	Opening
United Arab Emirates	Dubai Financial Market	8th March	Opening
US	CBOE	8th March	Opening
US	IEX	8th March	Opening
US	Nasdaq	7th March	Closing
US	NYSE	5th March	Opening
Yemen	Yemen Stock Exchange	14th March	Opening