End of preview - This article contains approximately 609 words.
Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article
Not a Subscriber?
Choose from one of the following options
Back
LatinNews Regional Monitor: Mexico - 27 July 2018
TRACKING TRENDS
MEXICO | Biva. On 25 July a new stock exchange, the Bolsa Institucional de Valores (Biva), started operations in Mexico City. The new arrival hopes to make Mexico more attractive to national and international investors by entering into competition with the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores (BMV), which since 1975 has been the only stock exchange operating in the country. Biva will use Nasdaq trading technology, which is among the fastest in the world. Biva president, Santiago Urquiza has predicted that companies with annual sales of between M$500m (US$26.57m) and M$1bn (US$53.14m) could make new public offerings on the Biva market. On launch day there were 147 companies listed, of which 35 are highly traded; Urquiza suggested that the new exchange would seek to attract around 50% of the total 147 within three years. Biva director María Ariza García Migoya told the local media that the exchange is looking to attract “disruptive companies” from across the economy. The launch of Biva has been delayed multiple times, and some question its potential impact in a nation where investing in stocks is far from the norm. According to the Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores (CNBV), Mexico’s banking and securities regulator, there are only 255,475 investment accounts in a country of almost 130m people. However, there is significant potential for investors in Mexico. According to Biva, the country currently has the 15th-largest domestic economy in the world but is only 23rd in terms of market capitalisation; and there are only 147 listed companies when there should be 850 given the size of the economy. If Biva can encourage mid-sized companies to join the exchange, it could have a major impact on Mexico’s financial market.
