ATHENS, Greece, May 17, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) and the Korea Exchange (KRX) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today in which they committed to cooperate in facilitating the dual-listing of companies on both exchanges.
This MOU, which was signed by Mr. Socrates Lazaridis, Chairman of the Athens Exchange, and Mr. Bongsoo Kim, Chairman and CEO of the Korea Exchange, at a ceremony in Athens on May 17, 2012, marked the first formal engagement between the two exchanges as well as the first sector-focused dual-listing between the two countries. During the ceremony, Mr. Kim also rang the opening bell of the Athens Exchange.
Mr. Kim stated during the event: "KRX is determined to carry out everything it can to support cooperative projects such as dual-listing of a Greek shipping company and proceed further to make a contribution to the development of the Greek capital market." Adding to Mr. Kim's sentiments, Mr. Lazaridis remarked: "We are really pleased to sign this MOU today, and initiate the cooperation with the Korea Exchange. This agreement will give the opportunity to companies in the energy and shipping sectors to benefit from a larger investor pool. On the other hand, investors from both markets will enjoy a greater selection of investment choices with significant diversity of companies and will benefit from the share trading in two time zones."
This undertaking between the two exchanges is intended to create a framework to facilitate future dual-listings of the securities of shipping companies, energy companies as well as ETFs. Shipping and energy are key sectors for both countries and the companies listed on the two exchanges will be able to diversify their shareholder base, build their profile and take advantage of an additional fund raising venue.
About ATHEX
Established in 1876, ATHEX is the organised market for equities and derivatives trading in Greece. ATHEX is a fully owned subsidiary of Hellenic Exchanges (HELEX), the parent company of the HELEX Group which provides trading, clearing, settlement, registration and data vending services to its clients. HELEX has been listed in the Athens Exchange since August 2000 and was fully privatized in September 2003. ATHEX has attracted significant capital flows from abroad with more than 50% of the total Greek market's capitalization in the hands of international institutional investors who also conduct approximately 35% (on average) of daily trading activity by value. ATHEX has 278 listed companies, a market capitalization of approximately €29.1 billion, an average daily turnover of €54 million and an average daily volume of 45 million shares.
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