On 2 May 2007, The Luxembourg Stock Exchange successfully migrated all securities listed on its two markets, the regulated market and the Euro MTF market, to the NSC trading platform of Euronext.
At the same time, the Exchange ceased using its existing platform - Système Automatisé de Marché (SAM) - launched in January 1996.
All segments of the 42,000 securities currently listed the Luxembourg Stock Exchange are now traded on the NSC platform.
From an operational standpoint, the changeover to the new trading platform also sees an extension of trading hours, which as of 2 May 2007 are now from 9.00 am to 5.35 pm.
From a technical standpoint, the NSC trading platform, built on Linux-IBM technology, is based on the highest standards of the industry in terms of resilience, availability and fault tolerance. Linux-IBM technology enables the platform to be more flexible and, where necessary, permits it to scale up in order to adjust to increased levels of activity.
Taking account of these technical improvements, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange considers that the NSC platform will contribute favourably to the growth of trade volumes in Luxembourg. Stimulation of the market should also result from the interconnectivity of the Euronext network, which is made up of 220 members having 570 access points.
The migration to NSC is in line with the partnership agreement signed on 22 march 2007 between Euronext and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. It constitutes an important action in this partnership, which will establish a European standard for both the listing and trading of corporate bonds. Called LuxNext, the new standard will:
- enable issuers to use the admission standards and procedures adopted by Europe's leading market for the listing of corporate bonds,
- give investors access to a full and varied range of products in the corporate debt segment, available on Europe's most liquid market.
Euronext and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange will join forces to promote and develop LuxNext across Europe, backed by targeted marketing tools.