[04/01/2008 – 08:40]
Brazil to promote capital markets in the Gulf
Bovespa, BM&F and other organisations in the sector will promote a workshop in Dubai, on the 21st, with the objective of attracting investors from the region. The effort, dubbed BEST, aims to promote the Brazilian market around the world.
From the Newsroom*São Paulo – Brazilian organisations in the capital markets sector will promote on April 21st, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, a seminar for investors based in the Gulf. The event is part of an initiative baptized as BEST (Brazil: Excellence in Securities Transactions), promoted by the São Paulo Stock Exchange (Bovespa), the Commodities & Futures Exchange (BM&F), the Brazilian Settlement and Custody Company (CBLC) and the National Association of Investment Banks (Anbid), with support from the Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM), the Brazilian Central Bank, and the National Treasury Secretariat.The project aims to promote Brazilian capital markets among international investors. The target public is comprised of mutual funds, pension funds, hedge funds, insurers, asset managers, banks, brokerage firms, custodians, regulatory agencies and sector organisations.In addition to increasing the flow of foreign investment into the Brazilian market, the initiative aims to gain knowledge of the needs of foreign investors, to improve the ranking of Brazil among countries competing for international funds, to make the market more accessible and to cut costs.In the specific case of Dubai, there should be a breakfast attended by representatives of the Treasury, the CVM, Bovespa, CBLC, BM&F and Anbid. The organisations involved in the project believe that the flow of foreign investment into the country, which is already high, can be even greater and that, by disclosing information, the Brazilian market’s risk rating can be improved.
BEST events have been held since 2005, and have already brought together 2,773 people, according to the organiser. Meetings have been held in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Toronto, London, Frankfurt, Edinburgh, Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Last year, the events were attended by more than 1,000 people.
In February, the promoters of the initiative presented a report of the 2007 results showing that the number of accounts opened by foreigners for investing in the Brazilian capital market increased from 714 in 2004 to 2,500 in 2005, 2,841 in 2006, and 3,105 last year. The survey also shows that the participation rate of foreigners in initial public offerings (IPOs) in the country reached 80% in 2007, as against 71% in 2006, 68% in 2005 and 64% in 2004.
This year, a workshop is going to be held in the Middle East for the first time, and the organisers are expecting investors from across the entire region. There is special interest in sovereign funds, which have large volumes of funds boosted by oil revenues. Foreign participation rate in the Brazilian stock market stood at 35% last year, with the Middle East answering to just 1% of total foreign funds.
The road show in the Emirates will take place at a time in which the Bovespa and the BM&F are undergoing a merger, which should be concluded by late April. The New Exchange, as the merged institution should be called, should have an estimated market value of US$ 18 billion, placing the organisation in third place, behind the Chicago and Frankfurt exchanges alone.
Apart from Dubai, this year BEST should include seminars in London, Luxemburg, Geneva, Toronto, Boston, New York, Tokyo, Seoul and Singapore.
Further information
Site: www.bestbrazil.org.br
