(Vienna) Wiener Börse has two reasons to celebrate today: With the connection of this year’s first new trading member to the exchange – Hamburger Privatbank Berenberg Bank (full company name: Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG) – the 1,000th direct trading member is joining Wiener Börse. Thus, the trend of rising trading membership in Wiener Börse by mostly international trading firms is unbroken this year: 34 of the currently 74 members admitted to trading on Wiener Börse are international investment firms.
Wiener Börse started admitting foreign trading member to the exchange in 1996. Ever since, international investment firms have virtually “overrun” Wiener Börse. The increase has been particularly pleasing in the past four years. In 2002, the number of foreign traders on Wiener Börse was 52, but by the end of 2006, it had risen to 608 leaving the Austrian traders (363) far behind. At the end of January 2007, more than half of the exchange’s trading volume – 54.6% – was accounted for by international members, while in 2002, their share in total trading volume had been only 16.6%.
“In our view, there is a clear, direct and positive correlation between the number of linked members and traders, and the booming trading volumes on Wiener Börse. The more members we connect to the exchange, the higher trading volumes climb,” is how Michael Buhl, member of the Management Board of Wiener Börse AG commented the very gratifying development. Since 2002, trading volumes on Wiener Börse have more or less doubled every year; currently, the figure is around EUR 14.2bn (year-end January 2007).
Berenberg Bank is a major private banking institution in Germany with a staff of 650 employed at eight locations in Germany and seven foreign ones with a volume of assets under management of EUR 15bn. It ranks in leading positions in the German-speaking region in private banking and investment banking for European small and mid-caps. It is also very successful in institutional asset management and corporate banking.