With this initiative BME reaffirms its commitment to having an active presence in the Latin American markets.

In July 2007 BME's Board of Directors authorised the purchase of up to a 5% stake in Bolsa Mexicana de Valores. BME has initially acquired a 0.99% stake in the capital of Bolsa Mexicana de Valores, representing 6,250,000 shares, at 16.5 Mexican pesos a share.

By acquiring the stake, BME reaffirms its interest in taking part in the future of the Latin American markets and its determination to further its collaboration in the region, which started in 1999 with the launch of LATIBEX, a strategic market that differentiates BME from other international stock exchanges and which lists 39 stocks from 8 different Latin American countries. The market capitalisation of LATIBEX stands close to € 400 bn and ranks as the second largest market for Latin American securities in terms of market capitalisation.

With respect to technology, the stock exchanges of Caracas, Quito, Montevideo, Dominican Republic and El Salvador run on the Spanish electronic trading platform SIBE while BME's market access platform - Visual Trader - is used by the Chilean stock market.

In 2007 BME acquired a 10% stake in the Colombian new Central Counterparty (CCP). The aim of this entity is to ensure an orderly functioning of buy and sell orders on stock markets. The new company, to which BME has contributed its know how and electronic platform, is called Cámara de Riesgo Central de Contraparte de Colombia. Apart from BME, its major shareholders are the Bolsa de Valores de Colombia (BVC), the Depósito Centralizado de Valores de Colombia (DECEVAL), as well as different financial institutions and stock dealer firms. The number of shareholders in the CCP totals 38.

Besides selling its own equities and derivatives IT systems abroad - the Mexican MEXDER derivatives market uses BME's future and options market trading platform - BME is actively developing projects in other Latin American countries. These include initiatives relating to consultancy in Colombia and Guatemala, market data dissemination in Mexico and Fixed Income in Colombia.