When you've got nothing to float, the Stock Exchange will do

The Bucharest Stock Exchange is listing its shares on its own market today. This is the first floatation after two years during which there has been no new company on the BSE.

The floatation of the Bucharest Stock Exchange is being touted as the most important event on the local capital market this year, which, however, reveals the rift between the stock market and the real economy.

The Stock Exchange this way hopes to set an example and signal confidence to private companies so as to make them come seek to raise cash on the capital market. The main purpose of the listing, however, is to make it easier to transfer shares for those looking to sell or for investors looking to buy BSE shares betting on the development of the capital market. The floatation was approved by BSE's shareholders about three months ago and was brokered by Intercapital Invest securities firm.

"The listing will fundamentally change the way the Stock Exchange relates to the market and investors and will give a boost to the entire capital market by setting an example for the companies looking for funding," said Stere Farmache, chairman of the Bucharest Stock Exchange since its establishment fifteen years ago.

The Bucharest Stock Exchange has not managed to position itself as an alternative financing source for the economy in fifteen years, despite a good start, stimulated by the floatation of major state-run companies. The government later forgot about the capital market and the faulty legislation made it possible for many major companies like Dacia and Sidex to delist, with few companies coming to the market afterwards.