Warsaw Stock Exchange
| Warsaw Stock Exchange | |
| |
| Founded | 1991 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Warsaw, Poland |
| Key People | Pawel Tamborski, President |
| Products | Cash equities, bonds, index futures and options, stock options and currency futures |
| Website | http://www.gpw.pl/index.asp |
The Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE or GPW) is an electronic platform offering trading, clearing and settlement of equities, bonds, fund shares, and derivatives. It hosts Poland's benchmark Wig-20 stock market index and currently lists 876 companies. The WSE is the largest exchange in Central and Eastern Europe.[1]
It is the largest developed market in Central and Eastern Europe. It is a public company, the shares of which have been listed since 2010 with a capitalization of about 320 million euros.
The exchange also operates the Polish Power Exchange (TGE), an electricity exchange as well as a marketplace for natural gas, CO2 emissions and property rights in certificates.
Warsaw Stock Exchange ranked 43rd in global derivative exchange volume in 2018 with 8.1 million contracts traded, down 7 percent from a year earlier, according to the FIA Annual Volume Report.[2][3]
History[edit]
Polish capital markets go back to 1817, when the Warsaw Mercantile Exchange was established. Before the Second World War seven stock exchanges operated in Poland.
After Poland's former communist regime was overthrown in 1989, The Warsaw Stock Exchange was created as a joint-stock company on April 12, 1991 by the State Treasury. It opened for trading on April 16, 1991.[4] Its first day of trading took place on the top floor of the former Communist Party headquarters, and the exchange traded only five companies with a turnover of $2,000.[5]
In February 2009, the exchange said it invited four international exchanges to buy the bourse - London Stock Exchange, Deutsche Boerse, Nasdaq OMX and NYSE Euronext.[6][7]
The effort fell through in the final weeks of 2009 because of a lackluster response to the offering. Initially, the London Stock Exchange, Nasdaq OMX, NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse all responded to the invitation, but London withdrew before the process was concluded and in the end only the Frankfurt exchange submitted a bid. Following the failed sale, the Treasury decided to organize an IPO for the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
An initial public offering (IPO) of the exchange took place on November 9, 2010.[8] [9] The Polish government, which had owned 98 per cent of the bourse, reduced its stake to 35 per cent after the exchange agreed to buy a new trading platform from NYSE Euronext in June of 2010. [10] The exchange switched over to NYSE Euronext's new trading platform in April of 2013. [11]
The IPO by the WSE was the first trading debut by a central European bourse operator.[12]
In May 2022 the board of the Central Bank of Armenia gave its consent for the Warsaw Stock Exchange to acquire the Armenian Stock Exchange. The value of the transaction will be about AMD 873 million, a part of which (about AMD 499 million) will be paid after signing the share purchase agreement, and the rest, after completion of processes established by the share purchase agreement.[13]
Structure and Regulation[edit]
The WSE is overseen by Poland's Financial Supervisory Commission, and trading hours are from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The exchange runs on the UTP (Universal Trading Platform), launched in April 2013, which was developed by NYSE Technologies.
Annual Volume[edit]
| Year | Total Annual Volume | Percent Change |
| 2018 | 8,163,654 | (-)7.0% |
| 2017 | 7,623,156 | (-)4.4% |
| 2016 | 7,975,137 | (-) 2.8% |
| 2015 | 8,205,097 | (-) 14.4% |
| 2014 | 9,481,427 | (-) 24.8% |
| 2013 | 12,615,336 | 11.6% |
| 2012 | 11,307,717 | (-) 27.1% |
| 2011 | ~15,500,000 (est) | 5.6% |
| 2010 | 14,684,314 | 6.2% |
| 2009 | 13,820,801 | -- |
Key people[edit]
- Marek Dietl, President of the Management Board
- Dariusz Kulakowski, CIO and Board Member
- Izabela Olszewska, Chief Sales Officer and Board Member
- Piotr Borowski, COO and Board Member
Product Development[edit]
The futures market started on Jan. 16, 1998 with the launch of Wig-20 index contracts.[14] Corporate bonds were added in 2006
References[edit]
- ↑ 22nd Anniversary of Warsaw Stock Exchange. Mondovisione.
- ↑ FIA Annual Volume Survey. Futures Industry Association MarketVoice Magazine.
- ↑ 2018 Annual Volume Survey. Futures Industry.org.
- ↑ Annual report. WSE.
- ↑ Warsaw Stock Exchange soars in symbolic IPO. The Financial Times.
- ↑ Four Groups Eyed For Warsaw Stock Exchange. Financial Times.
- ↑ NYSE Euronext Seeks Purchases, Eyes Warsaw, Athens Exchanges. Bloomberg.
- ↑ Warsaw Stock Exchange soars in symbolic IPO. The Financial Times.
- ↑ Warsaw bourse IPO one step closer. Warsaw Business Journal.
- ↑ Warsaw Bourse To Buy Trading Platform From NYSE Euronext -Tsy. Dow Jones.
- ↑ Warsaw Bourse Switches to NYSE Platform as Volumes Surge. Bloomberg News.
- ↑ Warsaw Exchange Wins Approval to Sell Shares in IPO. Bloomberg/Businessweek.
- ↑ Warsaw Stock Exchange to acquire 65.03% shares of Armenian Stock Exchange. Public Radio of Armenia.
- ↑ Annual report. WSE.