Latin American Capital Markets

198 RUBEN LEEbe only a small number of them, and thus the unit cost of settling international tradeswould be sharply reduced.MarketingThe marketing of any market is a critical element of its success.Two forms of regionalcooperation in such marketing are examined here: Euro.NM, which aimed to bandtogether several continental European high-technology markets, and the creation ofsome new indices by EuronextEuro.NMIn 1998, the stock exchanges in France, the Netherlands, and Belgium set up an alliancecalled Euro.NM to market their growth company boards.The aim was to createa network of European stock exchanges that would provide high-growth companieswith access to the international investment community within an accessible andwell-regulated market structure.The central elements of Euro.NM were common admissioncriteria, geared specifically to provide growing companies with a route fromtheir domestic investment community to an international one; combined marketing;harmonized membership, trading, and disclosure standards; and a proposed crossmarketelectronic trading facility.At its height, Euro.NM was composed of five separate markets: Le NouveauMarche from Paris, EURO.NM Belgium from Belgium, the Neuer Markt from Frankfurt,the Nuovo Mercato from Milan, and NMAX from Amsterdam. The dominanceof Euro.NM by Deutsche Bourse's Neuer Markt, in terms of the number and capitalizationof its listed companies, put a strain on the alliance, and Deutsche Bourse wasrepeatedly reported as considering leaving the alliance. With the commencement ofEuronext, Euro.NM was phased out at the end of 2000.Euronext IndicesThe development of a market index is one way of attracting investor interest to a regionalmarket Euronext is a typical example. It is constructing four new indices topromote its market The Euronext 100 is composed of the 100 largest officially listedsecurities in the Euronext stock market. It represents approximately 87 percent ofEuronext's total market capitalization and reflects trends in blue chip securities in theEuronext region.The Next 150 index is composed of the 150 largest companies onCopyright © by the Inter-American Development Bank. All rights reserved.For more information visit our website: www.iadb.org/pub