SPANISH EXCHANGE INVESTS IN MEXICAN BORSE

Posted June 16, 2008

MADRID – Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME) has acquired a 0.99 percent stake in Bolsa Mexicana de Valores (BMV), acting on an authorization by the BME board last July to buy up to 5 percent of BMV.

BME is paying 16.5 Mexican pesos per BMV share, in a purchase of 6.25 million shares of the exchange.

BME is calling its purchase of a stake in BMV a reaffirmation of its commitment to Latin American markets. BME acquired 10 percent of Cámara de Riesgo Central de Contraparte de Colombia, a new Colombian central counterparty, last year. BME is also working on consultancy initiatives in Colombia and Guatemala, a market data effort in Mexico and fixed-income services in Colombia.

In 1999, BME launched LATIBEX, a strategic market listing 39 stocks from eight Latin American countries. LATIBEX now has a market cap of about 400 billion euros and is the second-largest market for Latin American securities by market cap.

BME also provides Visual Trader, a market access platform, to the Chilean stock market, and sells equities and derivatives IT systems in other countries. Additionally, BME provides the future and options market trading platform for Mexico’s MEXDER derivatives market.