EXCLUSIVE Adam Maciejewski: "We don't rule out strategic alliances or unions with another European stock exchange"

Reporter: Former president Ludwik Sobolewski had numerous talks with the officials of the Bucharest Stock Exchange, about a potential cooperation. Did you keep in touch with the Bucharest Stock Exchange and with the Romanian authorities? On what topics?

Adam Maciejewski: We have been having talks about cooperation possibilities in Central and Eastern Europe for years, and they began when Wies³aw Roz³ucki was the CEO of the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Various models of cooperation have been taken into account.

These kinds of talks are absolutely natural, including outside CEE, and it makes sense for them to be continued, in a more concrete manner, since it would not be prudent for any stock exchange to ignore the processes which are happening in our industry on a global level.

If the result will be beneficial for the Polish economy and for other economies in the region, and for the shareholders and the market participants, I am also certain interesting solutions are possible for the stock exchanges in the region.

Personally I am a supporter of a stronger social and economic European integration, of course, inside the CEE region as well, which will certainly encouraged by a stronger integration of the capital markets, not just of the stock exchanges in themselves.

Reporter: As far as you know, what is the current status of the dual listing of the Proprietatea Fund?

Adam Maciejewski: This is an ongoing process and we would not want to anticipate its ending. Still, we can certainly say that there is definitely an interest from the shareholders to see the Proprietatea Fund listed in Warsaw.

Reporter: The Polish ambassador in Romania, as well as Mrs. Lidia Adamska (former member on the Board of the Polish Stock Exchange), have spoken in favor of attracting other Romanian companies on the WSE as well, aside from the Proprietatea Fund. Has the WSE begun any talks in that regard? What have the results been?

Adam Maciejewski: We are seeing an ongoing interest in the Polish market from the companies in CEE, Romania included. The representatives of the WSE visit the countries in the region constantly, and are having meetings with various entities interested in the topic of the listings in Warsaw. But the listings for the most part depend on the improved outlook of the global equity markets. We believe that the WSE is the best choice for the companies in Central and Eastern Europe and we will do everything in our power to support their decision to enter our market.

Reporter: What would your advice be for the Bucharest Stock Exchange to increase liquidity and to become attractive for investors?

Adam Maciejewski: The Warsaw Stock Exchange is the biggest market in Central and Eastern Europe in terms of capitalization and turnover, but I don't think that the task of increasing market liquidity and quality ever ends. The key points are the cutting edge technology, optimal access for all market participants, active market makers and a pricing policy that would promote active trading.

On the issuer side, an increased free-float and a good communication with the stakeholders are essential for future growth.

Also crucial for liquidity are a good economic situation and a dynamic economic development, which creates demand for capital on the IPO and SPO markets.

Reporter: How do you currently see the competition with Wiener Boerse?

Adam Maciejewski: I wouldn't say that we are in direct competition with Wiener Boerse. More likely, we are competing with all the markets that could be perceived by investors as an alternative, meaning that the stock exchanges are fighting for the local and global capital in terms of infrastructure quality, ease of access and variety of the products offered.

At the same time, our goals such as generating interest from international investors in the EEC region, are sometimes similar.

The stock exchanges in the region will not remain national forever and the challenge for all of us is to choose a model which could be a viable business for the shareholders and a valuable proposal attractive for anyone who is interested in the capital markets in the ECE, while at the same time supporting the integration of the regional economies.

We need to continue to integrate with the global markets, in terms of technology, products and regulations, and this is more important than any direct competition.

Reporter: What are the plans of the WSE for this year, under you coordination?

Adam Maciejewski: Our plans will be grouped under three areas.

The first goal is to increase the attractiveness of the WSE for the market by increasing liquidity, stimulating the derivatives market, increasing the quality of NewConnect and Catalyst (ed. note: a section for start-ups and the one for bonds) and increasing the dialog with all the market participants.

As to what concerns attracting new issuers and investors, we want to work on reinforcing the retail investor segment and on promoting the WSE among foreign investors, as well as on attracting foreign issuers, even from outside the Central and Eastern Europe region.

In our efforts to attract new listings, we will double our focus on bigger companies, which provide the necessary liquidity and which generate revenues for the Stock Exchange and its members.

The technological change, which is underway and which includes both the Warsaw Stock Exchange, as well as the broker community, is another important objective for us. After the introduction of the new trading system, which will start operating on April 15th, the Stock Exchange will introduce a range of new products, trading solutions and auxiliary services, for example "High Performance Access".

These new functionalities will make it far more attractive for a new range of investors to trade in Warsaw, including algorithmic traders, and to a certain extent this will determine the increase of the activity on the stock exchange in the coming years.

In a broader sense, we want to get actively involved in the creation of a strategy for the entire Polish equity market, which will involve the revitalization of the strategy of the WSE, but the detailed plans will be discussed in advance with all the stakeholders.

In the end, we want to have a significant part in the development of the Stock Market in Central and Eastern Europe, in order to truly become an integral part of the European capital market and we will do this in several ways: cooperation with the foreign brokers, issuers and stock exchanges. We also don't rule out strategic alliances or unions with another European stock exchange.