Adrian Tănase, BVB: "We hope that the derivatives markets will be functional in the first part of next year"

The Central Counterparty project, which will allow the launch of derivative financial instruments in our capital market, is in a very advanced phase in terms of authorization and implementation, said Wednesday Adrian Tanase, the general director of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) and the president of CCP.RO, on the occasion of a conference.

According to the BVB director, our capital market has the highest development potential in the region, and with the listing of Hidroelectrica we became the third largest stock market in the region. However, we suffer from liquidity, an aspect that can be improved by the existence of derivative products, the new deadline put forward by the president of CCP.RO for the launch of such financial instruments being the first part of next year.

Adrian Tănase stated: "The listing of Hidroelectrica represented, from my point of view, a strong signal from the authorities supporting our development as a company and supporting the development of the capital market. A signal that, for a stock exchange of our size, is crucial. At this level of size, we need the competition of the authorities, through such decisions. And the decision to list Hidroelectrica, because in the end it was the decision of the Ministry of Energy, even though Fondul Proprietatea sold, it was the most important decision that could have been taken at the moment. It was also very well synchronized with the trend we are in as a market".

The president of CCP.RO added: "Bucharest is now on the radar of many international investors and international institutions dealing with capital markets. We are seen as the market with the best growth potential in the region. And rightfully so."

According to the director of the BVB, entrepreneurs have discovered the capital market, a fact also confirmed by brokers, who now have to filter entrepreneurs who look to the stock market.

"In 2021 we had a very active primary market, with over 20 share listings, which is an absolute record by the standards of the Bucharest Stock Exchange. We had confirmation that entrepreneurs had discovered the capital market. We also have this certainty from discussions with brokers, who say that if ten years ago they went looking for entrepreneurs, now the opposite phenomenon is happening, in the sense that they have to filter the entrepreneurs who look to the capital market, in order to choose the those who are really suitable to come to the market", said Adrian Tănase.

The BVB director added: "As for the secondary market, we want to have a liquid exchange. The ultimate goal is to have liquidity - an exchange without liquidity is not fulfilling its function. However, we do not have a liquid stock market. We have the third largest stock market in the region, but it is not the third most liquid stock market in the region. Liquidity suffers and we have to work very hard on this".

According to the director of the BVB, the potential for multiplying the liquidity of our stock exchange is enormous even at the current level of capitalization, but only through the existence of derivative instruments.

"We have the Central Counterparty project which, from my point of view, is the most important project (n.r. of BVB). We are in a very advanced phase of authorization and implementation of the Central Counterparty, and we hope to have the products that make our stock market much more attractive especially for more sophisticated investors who also need another type of tools to implement their the strategies. In addition to "buy and hold" type investors, who invest for the long term, we also want to have specialized investors, who have short-term strategies. They are the ones who create the liquidity we want. The potential for multiplying liquidity is enormous even at the current level of capitalization, but only through the existence of such instruments", said Adrian Tănase. "We hope that the derivatives markets will be functional in the first part of next year. We will have stock futures, index futures, we will have energy futures products. We also hope to have functional «lending and borrowing» operations".

Recently, the BVB Council extended Adrian Tănase's mandate as general manager until the end of next year.