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FEDERATION OF EURO-ASIAN STOCK EXCHANGES ANNUAL REPORT JUNE 2010FEDERATION OF EURO-ASIAN STOCK EXCHANGESAril SerenSecretary General of FEASOn May 16, 1995, the draft charter and thename of the federation as “Federation ofEuro Asian Stock Exchanges” or “FEAS” inshort, were adopted by acclamation.HISTORY OF FEASChapter I. HOW IT WAS BORNIt was the autumn of 1992;The Soviet Union had been disintegratingduring the last 20 months. So wasYugoslavia. Eastern European CommunistRegimes had been topping and givingway to more liberal and Nationalistgovernments.I was then in Mexico City for the occasionof the General Assembly of FIBV, theInternational Federation of StockExchanges. The Istanbul Stock Exchangewas being voted to become the nextmember of FIBV. I was representing theISE there. I was curious about thesuccess of FIBV as an institution andwanted to see how the membersco-operated. I saw a lot of camaraderieand discussion of common issues,especially among the European and LatinAmerican members, each groupbelonging to a Regional Federation.During 1991 and 1992, we saw stockexchanges being established throughoutthe ex-Soviet, newly independentRepublics of Eastern Europe, Caucasusand Central Asia. Also the old stockexchanges of Ex Yugoslav Republics andex-iron curtain countries were being revitalized.They all needed new knowledge on howto establish, organize and operate stockexchanges in the new environment offinancing of the capitalist institutions.I remember asking myself, if bringingtogether these newly establishedexchanges within a regional federationwould achieve the necessary sharing ofknowledge and experience and enablefurther development with less mistakesalong the way.At the next meeting of FIBV, I noticed thatthe European Federation would not takein the East European Exchanges. It wasthe Federation of European Unionmembers and its charter did not allowmembership to non EU countries’exchanges. I also noticed that exchangesof the Middle East and Indiansubcontinent did not belong to either FIBVor a regional federation of their own.I had some personal friends and contactsamong the Euro Asian Exchangesthrough International meetings andinstitutions. While I was considering whatsort of co-operation among theseexchanges would be most beneficial toall, a lady paid me a visit in Istanbul, whohad been doing some work in CentralAsian republics on behalf of the US. Herwork was coming to an end and shewanted to find out if there would be anyform of working together in the Euro AsianRegion. She was Rosalind Marshall.Together, we drafted a charter for aRegional Federation of Stock Exchangesand sent it to a number of friends andcolleagues, inviting them to comment onthe draft and to join others within such afederation. I received positive responseswith comments on the draft from elevenexchanges. The late chairman of ISE,Tuncay Artun, offered to host them inIstanbul, during the opening ceremony ofthe new premises of ISE during mid 1995.Those Exchanges were located at;Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Iran, Israel,Jordan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Slovakia,Slovenia, Turkmenistan, Turkey. The 12Exchanges convened at the New Buildingof ISE on May 16, 1995, in conjunctionwith the opening ceremony. Tuncay Artunchaired this first meeting where the draftcharter and the name of the federation as“Federation of Euro Asian StockExchanges” or “FEAS” in short, wereadopted by acclamation. All foundingmembers of the new federation becamemembers of the Executive Committee,Tuncay Artun was elected as the presidentand I was appointed by the meeting asthe Secretary General. I, in turn,appointed Rosalind Marshall as theAssistant Secretary General. The PrimeMinister of Turkey, who was attending theceremonies, paid a visit to meeting hall tocongratulate the founding of FEAS.Following the completion of thepaperwork for the founding procedure,the Government of Turkey ratified theFederation as “Special InternationalInstitution” established in Turkey; Istanbulas its headquarters.The Federation started its work on 17 May1995 at a designated part of the ISEbuilding where the FEAS office and FEASMeeting Hall were provided free-of-chargefor FEAS.PAGE 4