Three decades since the establishment of the Sibiu Stock Exchange, the first derivatives market in our country

Important actors who contributed to the founding and development of the first derivatives market in our country celebrated, on December 14, three decades since the establishment of the Sibiu stock exchange.

"We didn't know what we were going to do from the beginning. We bought a block of flats (ground floor and mezzanine), slab and pillars, we printed 4,000 shares of 100 lei at the state mint, which we gave to the builders", recalls Teodor Ancuţa, founder of the Sibiu market and former president of SIBEX, the beginnings of the stock exchange.

In 1996, the collaboration with Mr. Thomas Curtean, a trader with experience at the Chicago stock exchanges, was decisive, contributing to the organization and launch of the Sibiu market's activities. In 1997, the Sibiu Stock Exchange became the first derivatives exchange in our country, with brokers' ring transactions being carried out by shouting and signs, as in the United States, according to the former president of SIBEX.

Over the years, the Sibiu Stock Exchange has brought multiple firsts, including: the launch of the first stock derivatives (2000), namely futures contracts backed by the shares of SIF Banat-Crişana, SIF Transilvania and Petrom, listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange; the launch of the first futures and options contract on commodities backed by bread wheat (2002); the launch of the SIBGOLD contract, which had the USD/GOLD pair as the underlying asset and the related option; the listing of SIBEX shares on its own regulated spot market, managed by what was then called the Sibiu Monetary Financial and Commodity Exchange (2010); the launch of the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures contract denominated in lei (2010).

"The employees of the Sibiu Stock Exchange participated for years in the Romanian Parliament in order to establish the legislation for the authorization and operation of the capital market in Romania (law 129/2000, ordinance 69, law 297, etc.)", says Mr. Ancuţa.

According to him, the evolution of the Sibiu Stock Exchange ended starting in 2011, with the takeover of the management by Cristina Sima, with the great competition of the SIFs. "In one year, the SIBEX stock exchange was destroyed," says Teodor Ancuţa sadly, adding, however, with satisfaction: "All those present (ed. at the event last weekend), employees and brokers, enjoyed the farewell, being satisfied with what we achieved in 15 years at the Sibiu stock exchange, between 1997 and 2011."

In the summer of 2017, the derivatives market and the regulated market in Sibiu were closed, after trading activity had dropped sharply, SIBEX being absorbed by the Bucharest Stock Exchange.