The Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV) has reported a 50% increase in trading volume in its 2010 financial results, driven in part by the increasing activity of high-frequency trading firms at the exchange.
Total exchange revenues for 2010 amounted to US$155.2 million, some 22% higher than the previous year. The exchange attributes the increase to its introduction of direct market access and co-location services that attract high-frequency traders, having increased the number of access points by 61% during the period. BMV estimates that close to 30% of its trading volume now comes from high-frequency trading.
The BMV Group is also currently exploring agreements with US and other exchanges to expand access to its market. An order routing agreement with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has already been signed, providing local market participants access to CME products and liquidity and vice-versa.
A similar agreement exists between the Mexican derivatives venue, MexDer, and the CME, allowing participants in both exchanges to access each other's markets.
BMV also held six IPOs during the year, including the largest ever on the Mexican market, Spanish construction group OHL. In total, IPOs raised US$3.85 billion in 2010 while US$20 billion was raised in medium and long-term debt.
The Mexican market has been opening up to international market participants in recent months. UBS launched direct market access on BMV in November 2010, while Mexican broker Iteracciones Casa de Bolsa recently joined the Secure Financial Transaction Infrastructure network operated by NYSE Technologies, the commercial technology division of exchange group NYSE Euronext, to offer direct market access for buy-side firms, in February 2011.