Mercado Abierto Electrónico

Mercado Abierto Electrónico (MAE) is an electronic securities and foreign-currency trading market in Argentina. It is based on a modular electronic platform running on specific IT supports, where both government and private fixed-income securities, foreign currencies and swaps are transacted, as well as currency and interest rate futures. In addition, this technological support is used to trade bills of exchange and bonds issued by Banco Central de la República Argentina (BCRA) and for the initial public offering of bonds issued by the National State.

History

Mercado Abierto de Títulos Valores (Open Securities Market) was founded in 1970 after the enactment of Law 17,811, and it began operations at mid-decade. In 1980, its operations expanded remarkably, reaching a broker count in excess of 450. MAE was founded in 1988. International agreements date back to 1999, when the Uruguayan Electronic Stock Exchange (BEVSA) gained access to the use of Sistema de Operaciones Electrónicas (SIOPEL) under an agreement that allowed, among other things, the technological complementation and joint operation of the software for electronic trading.

In 2000, an important agreement was signed with the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange BOVESPA and a license to use this system was granted. Two years later, three organizations – MAE, the Chilean Electronic Stock Exchange (BEC) and BEVSA – signed a Master Agreement for the Information and Transaction Interconnection of their respective markets. The interconnection of the Chilean, Argentinean and Uruguayan electronic markets has always been a goal, since these markets have transactional systems that operate over an open platform that lets them connect their systems and servers with other markets, regardless of the distance between them and the technology used.