informationallabout

About the Irish Stock Exchange :

The Irish Stock Exchange or 'The Exchange' has a board of twelve directors. The directors divide the board into subcommittees to allow for concentrated efforts surrounding the governance, problems, and operations of the exchanges. There are eleven subcommittees consisting of admissions, appeals, audit, complaints adjudication, disciplinary, investment, listing, rules, senior appointments and remuneration, special products listing, and sponsor application. Each subcommittee team is responsible for handling operations that surround their topic.

As a checks and balance system, the Irish Stock Exchange has developed a list of rules for the securities that apply to both the mainstream and small markets. The rules are :

• corporate securities - equities, preference shares and corporate bonds
• Irish Government bonds
• exchange traded funds (ETF)
• covered warrants
• UCITS & investment funds
• and debt securities.

For the Irish Stock Exchange to list companies publicly there are fees that are charged for company listings, investment funds, specialist debt securities, member fee, registered sponsor's fees, and information products.

The Irish Stock Exchange developed a regular market for the mainstream businesses and a market for small to mid-sized companies, the Irish Enterprise Exchange (IEX). All of the trades are done in Euros based on the Irish currency.

About the London Metal Exchange :

The London Metal Exchange (LME) is the world's leading metal market specializing in non-ferrous base metals trading. The LME operates successfully with a turnover in excess of US$4,500 billion and market capitalization of around $3,000 billion annually. It plays an important part in maintaining the stability of commodity prices throughout the world.

From January 2000, The London Metal Exchange Limited became a wholly owned subsidiary of a new company - LME Holdings Limited. The LME Limited has up to 13 directors and six of them are the shareholders of LME Holdings Ltd.

Today, the exchange trades in eight metals, two plastics, and one index that include six primary base metals. The eight metals contracts are copper grade A, primary aluminum, standard lead, primary nickel, tin, special high grade zinc, aluminum alloy, and North American Special Aluminum Alloy (NASAAC). The plastic contracts include polypropylene (PP) and linear low density polyethylene (LL). Unlike other markets, trading in the London Metal Exchange is carried out in lots rather than tones.

The London Metal Exchange carries three prime roles - hedging, delivery, and pricing. The participants in the Exchange are protected against risks arising from movements in base metals and plastic prices, provided with storage and delivery facilities, and presented with the references prices in the metal and plastic industry for benchmarking.

The LME has three trading platforms - the open outcry market (ring trading), Inter-office telephone market, and the LME Select market. During ring trading a small number of members trade each LME contract in specific 5-minute periods 'rings.' At present, there are 11 'ring dealers' and they make a significant proportion of the LME contracts. The Inter-office telephone market is a 24 hour global market place transacted between member companies over the phone. Whereas, the LME Select screen trading system is the LME's official electronic trading platform, where accredited traders execute trades electronically. There are about 100 traders involved in the LME trading.

All LME prices are quoted in US Dollars, but the LME permits contracts in sterling, Japanese yen, and Euros. Additionally, the LME provides official exchange rates from US Dollars for each of the other accepted currencies.

About the London Stock Exchange :

The London Stock Exchange is the most important exchange in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It lists over 3,000 companies and with 350 of the companies coming from 50 different countries, the LSE is the most international of all exchanges.

The London Stock Exchange is comprised of two different stock markets: the Main Market and the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). The Main Market is solely for established companies with high performance, and the listing requirements are strict. Approximately 1,800 of the LSE's company listings trade on the Main Market, and the total market capitalization is over 3,500 billion. The Alternative Investment Market on the other hand trades small-caps, or new enterprises with high growth potential. Over 1,060 companies list on this market, with a total capitalization of 37 billion.

The LSE is completely electronic, but different shares are traded on different systems. Highly liquid shares are traded using the SETS automated system on an order driven basis. This means that when a buy and sell price match, an order is automatically executed. For securities that trade less regularly, the London Stock Exchange implements the SEAQ system, where market makers keep the shares liquid. These market makers are required to hold shares of a specific company and set the bid and ask prices, ensuring that there is always a market for the stock.

The LSE also has a new and growing exchange for equity derivatives called EDX London, created in 2003. In 2004, EDX traded an average of 382,599 contracts per day. Its aim is to become the leading derivatives market in the world.