Organisation and operation of the Romanian capital market MIRELA MATEI * , CĂTĂLIN POPESCU ** , MARIANA EFTIMIE *** * Finance, Accounting and Economic Analysis Department, Oil-Gas University of Ploieşti, ** Management-Marketing Department, Oil-Gas University of Ploieşti, *** Economics and Business Administration Department, Oil-Gas University of Ploieşti, 39 Bucureşti Bvd., Ploieşti, 100680 ROMANIA mirematei@yahoo.com , catalin_nicolae@yahoo.com , maryeftimie@yahoo.com Abstract: The European exchanges are in a development process that means consolidation through mergers and acquisitions and also, innovation of structured and derivatives products. The Romanian capital market has a marginal position on European continent because of its small dimensions and modest offer of derivatives products. Some steps have been made in the development process in Romania, but some measures must be taken in the future: the launch of commodities derivatives, the calculation of new stock indices and mergers between the Romanian exchanges. Key-words: capital market, exchange, derivatives, innovation, crises. 1 The European exchanges – general presentation At European level, over 40 exchanges are established. The most important European exchanges are members of Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE) and some of them are members of World Federation of Exchanges. Many of these exchanges have a long tradition in financial field. For example, Deutsche Borse was established in 1585, Wiener Borse in 1771 and other exchanges like Bolsas Y Mercados Expanoles, Athens Exchange and Olso Borse were set up in 19 century. The exchanges from Central and Eastern Europe are younger because they were established after the transition to the market economy. The European exchanges have two segments: the spot market and derivative market with some exceptions: at London Metal Exchange and ICE Futures Europe only derivatives contracts are available; Luxembourg Stock Exchange, Cyprus Stock Exchange, The Irish Stock Exchange and Malta Stock Exchange offer only spot contracts. The European exchanges are major players at international level but the intense competition with American and Asian exchanges have determined waves of mergers and acquisition and the establishment of six exchange groups on the European continent: - SIX Group (1993) operates in Switzerland, United Kingdom and Germany; - NYSE Euronext (2006) is active in Belgium, France, Netherlands, Portugal, United Kingdom and United States of America; - NASDAQ OMX Group (2008) activate in Armenia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden and United Kingdom; - London Stock Exchange Group (2001) operates in United Kingdom and Italy; - Deutsche Borse Group (1001) is active in Austria, Finland, Germany< Ireland, Switzerland and United States of America. Table 1 The main economic figures of European exchanges groups in 2007 Revenues (EURO thousands) Costs (EURO thousands) Net income (EURO thousands) Number of employees Deutsche Borse Group 2,664,500 1,323,500 911,700 3,281 London Stock Exchange Group 946,589 459,666 297,548 1,210 NASDAQ OMX Group 464,000 299,000 106,000 2,492 NYSE Euronext 2,993,027 2,338,707 462,847 3,083 SIX Group 323,119 147,359 147,847 440 Source: European Exchange Report 2007, Federation of European Securities Exchanges, November 2008, http://www.fese.be/_lib/files/EUROPEAN_EXCHANGE_REPORT_2007.pdf WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on BUSINESS and ECONOMICS Mirela Matei, Catalin Popescu, Mariana Eftimie ISSN: 1109-9526 269 Issue 6, Volume 6, June 2009