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| President & CEO, Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. |
Since its inception in 1949, the Tokyo Stock Exchange ("TSE") has promoted the fair and smooth transaction of securities, aimed to protect investors and the public good, and operated a securities market for the use of investors, brokers, issuers, and companies alike. As Japan's central market, TSE has aided the growth and expansion of the Japanese economy. With a market capitalization of 280 trillion yen (US$2.3 trillion) and a daily trading value of 700 billion yen (US$5.8 billion), TSE boasts of one of the world's largest and most liquid markets. Furthermore, TSE supports the raising and use of capital in the global market with an exchange that permits trading on both securities and derivatives based on those securities, such as TOPIX futures and JGB futures.
In recent years, however, the environment surrounding stock exchanges has undergone a large transformation. Due to the globalization of financial markets, international competition among exchanges has increased year after year, which has led securities exchanges in many countries to demutualize in order to maintain and increase their international competitive advantage.
TSE had operated as a not-for-profit membership organization since its founding over 50 years ago, but in today's environment, in order to create a truly global market, a new plan was needed to strengthen the functions of its market and increase its international competitiveness. That is why TSE committed to organizational change and demutualized on November 1, 2001, forming the new stock company Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc.
Following this change, I will strive to make the most of the merits of a stock company, working to create, under highly transparent management, a market that is more user-oriented, fairer and more reliable, and contributes to domestic and international capital markets. I wish to provide to market users an attractive market that is both effective and safe, and in the process I hope that these efforts will contribute to the development of the Japanese and global economies.
The world has come to expect a lot from TSE, and I hope that it now expects a lot more. November, 2001
Masaaki Tsuchida
President & CEO
Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc.
