GREEK SECURITIES FIRMS ON A NEW COURSE
by Alexander Moraitakis

The "Association of Members of the Athens Exchange" is a non-profit organization, members of which are all brokerage firms and banks that are members of the Athens Exchange, including the cash and the derivatives markets.

The "Association of Members of the Athens Exchanges" was established in 1988, with founding members all stockbrokers of that time.

The Law 1806/88, which led to substantial changes in stock market legislation, gave the opportunity of establishing brokerage firms, which started to appear in 1990. In 1996, the EC Directives 93/22 (Investment Services Directive) and 93/6 (Capital Adequacy Directive) were fully implemented into Greek Law. Presently, there are 65 brokerage firms and banks, authorized to operate on the ATHEX, all of whom are members of the "Association of Members of the Athens Exchanges". The actual share capital of an ATHEX member, amounts to € 10,8 million in average.

The ASE members' net shareholders' equity amounts to well over € 650 million and the total number of qualified personnel that are employed is well over 3000 people.

The members of the ATHEX besides their exclusive right to act as intermediaries in securities trading, can engage in business activities such as investment advice, portfolio management, custodian services, underwriting and providing advisory services in cases of listing on the ATHEX

The fees for all services provided are negotiable. It should be mentioned, though, that the quality of analyses and the services provided by the ATHEX members is internationally recognised.

Stock Exchange trading is performed through a new automated trading system - the Integrated Electronic Trading System (OASIS) which was implemented in October 1999. This system also supports the derivatives market as well as the bonds market. The stock market session is automatically screened on data networks such as Reuters, Telerate, etc.

As regards trading activities, the members of the ATHEX have to comply with the Rules of Conduct that were drafted and accepted by the members themselves as well as the Rules of Business Conduct for Investment Firms, imposed by the Ministry of National Economy in compliance with the ISD. They also have to comply with the provisions of the law on Market Abuse, which was adopted in May 2005 by the Greek Parliament in accordance with the Market Abuse Directive,

In order transactions to be protected and brokerage firms' liabilities to be covered, the "Athens Stock Exchange Members' Guarantee Fund " was set up in 1954 and was restructured in the end of 1997, the participation in which is compulsory for all members of the ATHEX as well as all investment firms-non members of the ATHEX. Nowadays, the Fund's property, which is invested in real estate and fixed income securities, is considerable in relation to other European Stock Exchanges. Each member's contribution is weighed annually with the average daily value of transactions.

In 30 October 2006 ATHEX and Cyprus Stock Exchange launched a common Platform, supporting the markets of the two exchanges. CSE Members which have been previously accepted as Members of the Athens Exchange (ATHEX) - Remote Members have the opportunity to trade in securities listed on the ATHEX, while at the same time, ATHEX Members which were approved as CSE Remote Members have the opportunity to trade in Cypriot shares.

Mr. Alexander Moraitakis is the President of the Association of Members of the Athens Exchanges President of the The Association's President, Mr. A. Moraitakis is a member of the Board of Directors of Hellenic Exchanges S.A., a member of the Board of Directors of the Athens Stock Exchange Members' Guarantee Fund, a member of the Board of Directors of Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry.