More about Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE)
Subjects:
The Polish capital market
The main institutions of the Polish capital market are the WSE, which organises both cash and derivatives markets and the National Depository for Securities, which handles clearing and settlement on the regulated market and maintains securities in the form of computer records.
Since 1999, the Depository has made its settlements using the National Bank of Poland
(NBP) as its clearing bank.
The capital market is supervised by the Polish Securities and Exchange Commission. The PSEC is a state administration agency supervising the activities of capital market institutions, including exchanges, brokerage houses, investment funds, brokers, investment advisors and clearing institutions, as well as publicly-traded companies. This supervision is intended to ensure universal access to reliable information on the securities market, and observance of fair-trading and competition rules by entities operating on the market.
Warsaw Stock Exchange
WSE is a middle-sized European exchange and the largest market in Central and Eastern Europe.
The WSE ranks seventh in Europe on futures contracts trading volume.
At the end of the 2004 year:
One of the biggest success of the WSE is fast growing futures market.
In 2004, transactions for 3,6 million contracts were made, which gives 14 153 number of contracts per session.
At the end of March 2005 there were quoted futures on indices: WIG20, Techwig and Midwig, single stock futures, T-notes and currencies: USD and EURO.
More information about
futures.
On September 22, 2003, the Warsaw Stock Exchange started trading options on the WIG20 index.
The WSE operates based on The Law on the Public Trading of Securities of August 21,1997 (as amended), under the supervision of the Polish Securities and Exchange Commission.
The WSE is a joint-stock company created by the State Treasury. Its capital amounts to 42 million PLN split into 60 000 registered shares. Currently, the WSE has 38 shareholders, including brokerage houses, banks, a listed company and the State Treasury.
WSE international status
The presence of the WSE in numerous international organisations serves as a confirmation of the high quality of both the organisational and legal standards applied by the Exchange.
Since November 1994, the Exchange has been a full member of the World Federation of Exchanges (formerly FIBV), an organisation bringing together the most important exchanges worldwide. Within this organisation, the WSE cooperates with exchanges from other countries in the implementation and unification of standards.
In May 1997 the Warsaw Stock Exchange was the first exchange in Central and Eastern Europe to be granted designated offshore securities market status by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. It remains the only market in Central and Eastern Europe to enjoy such status.
Since 1998, the WSE has been an affiliated member of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).
Since 1992, the Exchange has been cooperating with the European Federation of Securities Exchanges (FESE) and in June 1999, it became an associate member.
Since it began operating in 1991, the WSE has gained a strong position on the European market.
Trading system
The trading system used on the WSE is order-driven, which means that prices of securities are determined based on buy and sell orders.
To set the price for a given security, a list of buy and sell orders is prepared.
Matching of these orders is done according to strictly defined rules, and the execution of transactions takes place during trading sessions.
To improve the liquidity of listed securities, brokerage houses may perform the function of a market maker or animator, placing buy and sell orders in the public order book.
Trading sessions at the Exchange are held Monday-Friday from 10.00 a.m. to 4.10 p.m.
Futures contracts are quoted from 9.00 a.m. to 4.10 p.m.
