About the Borsa Italiana :

The Italian Stock Exchange (Borsa Italiana) indexes approximately 270 listed stocks within five different market sectors:

MTA/MTAX and Mercato Expandi

• Blue Chip: stocks listed under S&P Mib and Midex and all companies with a solid economical/financial structure and a market capitalisation of over one billion euro.
• Star: medium-sized companies with a market capitalisation of between 40 million and one billion euro. These companies must also satisfy other criteria concerning accountability, high liquidity and company structure.
• Standard: small- and medium-sized companies with market capitalisation of between 40 million and one billion euro.
• Mercato Expandi: small companies with a minimum capitalisation of one million euro.

Derivatives (IDEM)

• Futures, mini Futures and Options on the S&P Mib index
• Futures and Options on individual stocks

Covered Warrants and Certificates (SeDeX)

Government Bonds and Securities (MOT)

Exchange-Traded Funds and Index Open-end Funds (MTF)

The Italian Stock Exchange supports after market hours and electronic trading. Here is a list of major indices on Borsa Italiana:

The principal index is Mibtel which covers all shares quoted on MTA and MTAX as well as some foreign stocks. It is updated every minute.

The Mib30 index includes the 30 stocks with the highest market capitalisation and trade activity. It is also updated every minute.

S&P Mib represents the underlying trend of the Italian Stock market. The number of stocks included varies with companies leaving and entering the index depending on whether they fulfill its criteria. It is managed by S&P Poor's Inc, New York.

The Midex covers the highest liquidity blue chip companies in the S&P Mib index.

ALLSTAR is a weighted Index of all the shares listed in the STAR segment of the MTA and MTAX market. It is also updated every minute.

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.

About the Toronto Stock Exchange :

The Toronto Stock Exchange is the largest stock exchange in Canada, as well as the 7th largest in the world. The exchange lists 4,000 securities and trades an average of 250 million shares per day. The TSX lists companies from Canada, the U.S., and many other countries, and it has listings from a wide variety of industries. While the Toronto Stock Exchange was historically a floor-based exchange, it now operates electronically.

The TSX is one of two exchanges owned and run by TSX Group. The Toronto Stock Exchange only trades senior equities with strong historical performance, while the TSX Venture Exchange trades shares in new, high growth companies. The Toronto Exchange offers investors more solid, predictable investments, while the Venture Exchange offers investments with a higher risk, but more potential for growth and therefore higher returns. Companies trading on the TSX Venture Exchange may move to the Toronto Exchange once they meet the requirements.

About the New York Stock Exchange :

Trading approximately 1.46 billion shares each day, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the leading stock exchange in the world. The exchange trades stocks for some 2,800 companies, ranging from blue chips to new high growth companies. Each listed company has to meet strict requirements, as the NYSE works to maintain its reputation of trading strong, high quality securities.

Operating as a continuous auction floor trading stock exchange, the major players on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange are specialists and brokers. Brokers are employed by investment firms and trade either on behalf of their firm's clients or the firm itself. The broker moves around the floor, bringing buy and sell orders to the specialists. Each specialist stands in one location on the floor and deals in one or several specific stocks, depending on their trading volume. The specialist's job is to accept buy and sell orders from brokers and manage the actual auction. It is also the specialist's job to ensure that there is a market for their specified stocks at all times, meaning they will invest their own firm's capital at times to keep the market active and maintain the shares' liquidity. Specialists and brokers interact to create an effective system that provides investors with competitive prices based on supply and demand.

The NYSE is controlled by its six to twelve member Board of Directors. All Directors are independent of the trading floor's activities, except for the CEO who is left out of certain proceedings. This is to ensure that the regulation of the exchange is kept separate from the exchange's operations. The Board of Directors is elected annually and in turn elects the Board of Executives, which consists of 12 to 22 representatives from the many member firms on the exchange. These Executives serve as advisors to the Directors, keeping them updated on current issues on the exchange.

About the Chicago Mercantile Exchange :

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange is the United States. largest futures exchange, as well as the second largest in the world. It trades futures and options on interest rates, stock indexes, foreign currencies, and agricultural commodities. In 2004, the exchange traded 805.3 million contracts with a value of $463.4 trillion.

The CME is one of the few exchanges that still utilize the open outcry system of trading. Under this system, the traders all gather on the trading floor and call out their bids and offers. Different colored jackets are used to distinguish the various participants, and hand signals are also often used, as the shouting can make it hard to hear. The exchange has two main trading floors, one for the foreign currency and interest rate derivatives and another for the agricultural commodities and stock index derivatives. The CME also utilizes electronic trading, using GLOBEX2. This system allows for 24 hour trading while also allowing traders who are not physically located on the Chicago trading floor to participate.

About the Hyderabad Stock Exchange :

Since the establishment of the Hyderabad Stock Exchange in 1943, membership has increased from 55 to 869. As of 1999-2000, the exchange had a total of 310 brokers, ranging from corporate brokers to proprietor brokers. After the Securities Contracts Regulations Act in September 2005, the exchange became a corporatised and de-mutualised organization.

About the Karachi Stock Exchange :

Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) is the biggest and most liquid exchange in Pakistan with the average daily turnover of 525.15 million shares and market capitalization of US $ 54.28 billion. The international magazine 'Business Week' announced the KSE as the best performing world stock market in 2002. Since then the KSE continuously maintains the reputation as one of the best performing markets in the world.

Since 1991, foreign investors have an equal opportunity together with local investors to operate in the secondary capital market on the Karachi Stock Exchange. The establishment of the new policy for foreign investors and initiated privatization in Pakistan has accelerated the development of the KSE, which had even 663 companies listed in 2006. In addition, companies have a choice to be listed on one of the two markets - the ready market and the over-the-counter (OTC) market, which has lesser listing requirements. While the ready market requires listing companies to have minimum paid up capital of Rs 200 million (about UK � 1.8 m), the companies with minimum of Rs 100 million can be listed on the OTC market.

The Karachi Stock Exchange trades the KSE-100 Index. It is a highly-diversified index of 100 largest capitalization companies' stocks from all sectors of Pakistan economy. A constantly revised index is a good indicator of the overall Exchange performance over a period of time. In 2005, 88% of the KSE total market capitalization was represented by the KSE-100 Index.

The membership in the Karachi Stock Exchange is limited. Only 200 individual and corporate entities can register as members in the KSE. In 2005, 162 members traded actively on the Exchange. In addition, foreign corporate entities may also become the members of the KSE with the condition that the nominee member of the company is a citizen of Pakistan.