The Triple Bag

On this occasion we are going to talk about the union of the stock exchanges of Peru, Chile and Colombia, an alliance that must be completed in 2025 and that will allow the creation of a regional holding that will seek to be one of the most important and powerful markets in the region.

The Stock Exchange, or securities market, is an organization where securities transactions are carried out, through continuous public auction mechanisms, and where stock brokers can carry out other intermediation activities.

In the case of Peru, the Lima Stock Exchange operates. Its objective is to facilitate the negotiation of securities listed on the stock exchange, providing services, systems and mechanisms for intermediation in a fair, competitive, orderly, continuous and transparent manner.

Variable income securities (shares in listed companies) and fixed income securities (public and private debt, such as bonds, Treasury bills) are bought and sold on the stock market, as well as other negotiable securities such as investment funds, derivative products. , hybrid products, among others.

The stock exchanges have their origin in the city of Bruges, Belgium, where the Van der Bursen banking family organized meetings in their palace where assets were traded and commercial operations were carried out. The concept of “bag” arose from the family crest that had three leather bags.

The first modern stock exchange emerged in 1460 in Antwerp, Belgium. Subsequently, in 1570 the London stock exchange was created, in 1595 that of Lyon (France) and in 1792 that of New York.

In October 2023, the creation of a regional holding company that unites the Santiago, Bogotá and Lima stock exchanges became a reality. The objective is to make it one of the most relevant markets in Latin America. The entity’s new board of directors was elected, which will serve until 2025, and is made up of 16 members.

After the merger meeting, Juan Andrés Camús was unanimously elected as president and José Fernando Romero as vice president.

This merger would position it as the third largest stock exchange in Latin America, after Brazil (US$ 1.2 billion) and Mexico (US$ 600 billion).

According to projections, the income of the new Regional Exchange (that is, the company that combines the 3 exchanges) would be 47% higher than the sum of the income of each exchange if they were separate. The annual increase in income would be US$41 million and up to US$51 million in the long term. In summary, the merger would generate 27% additional value.

The sectoral composition of this integrated stock market implies a joint valuation of US$383 billion. In the integrated capital market, a diversified composition stands out where financial or material sectors that include raw materials predominate.

It is projected that next year a single trading platform will be implemented for the different instruments that operate in the three markets, the interoperability of clearing and settlement chambers, interconnection of securities deposits, and telecommunications and hardware infrastructures, to which the teams from the three countries are already working together.

The new president of this regional holding, Juan Andrés Camus, pointed out that this is a milestone in the history of the regional stock market as it is the first integration of ownership of three exchanges in different countries and with different regulations. Interaction is a necessary step for us to achieve greater competitiveness and position ourselves as an attractive option for investors around the world.