Bolsa de Madrid

Bolsa de Madrid (Madrid Stock Exchange) is the largest and most international of Spain's four regional stock exchanges located in Barcelona, Valencia, and Bilbao that trade shares and convertible bonds and fixed income securities, both government and private-sector debt. Bolsa de Madrid is owned by Bolsas y Mercados Españoles.

Structure and Operations

The reorganization of Spain's financial market under the national umbrella of the Spanish Stock Market includes the bolsas, the derivatives markets, and fixed-income markets. Trading is linked through the electronic Spanish Stock Market Interconnection System (SIBE), which handles more than 90% of transactions; all fixed-income assets are traded through SIBE. The Madrid Stock Exchange General Index (IGBM) is the exchange's principle index and represents the construction, financial services, communications, consumer, capital/intermediate goods, energy, and market services sectors. The IBEX-35 Index is a capitalization-weighted index comprising the 35 most liquid Spanish stocks traded in the continuous market, and is Bolsa de Madrid's benchmark. Bolsa de Madrid also offers the FTSE-Latibex Index, a European market for Latin American stocks; and the Ibex New Market Index for emerging companies. Settlement is T + 3. Trading on SIBE is conducted from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; open outcry from 10a.m. to 11:30 a.m., both Monday through Friday

History and Statistics

The Bolsa de Madrid was officially founded in 1831. As required by Spanish law, it is managed and operated by the Sociedad Rectora de la Bolsa de Valores de Madrid S.A., a corporation organized under the laws of the Kingdom of Spain. The membership of the Madrid Stock Exchange consists of 41 major financial institutions and 12 established securities dealers. At December 31, 2001, approximately 1477 domestic and foreign companies had their equity securities listed on the Madrid Stock Exchange. The total market capitalization of the equity securities listed on the Madrid Stock Exchange at May, 2007 was €1,276.26 billion.