The ATS of the Romanian Stock Exchange welcomes three foreign stocks

• Shares of pharmaceutical company "Bayer", the most sought after by domestic investors yesterday, of all those listed on the Alternative Trading System of the BSE

Starting yesterday, shares of E.ON (EOAN), Bayer (BAYN) and Deutsche Telekom (DTE) can be traded on the ATS of the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The three stocks were brought over to Bucharest by brokerage firm "Tradeville", which will also function as a market maker for them. The maximum spread offered by the brokerage firm is 2%, "Tradeville" officials said yesterday.

Starting in November last year, on the ATS of the Exchange, investors can also trade shares of "Daimler" (DAI), maker of "Mercedes", but the stock does not have significant liquidity.

The management of "Tradeville" yesterday said that it has selected these stocks, which belong to major companies that gained international recognition over time, after polling their clients.

"We want to provide retail investors with the possibility of diversifying their portfolio", Mihaela Bîciu, president and managing director of "Tradeville", who said that with the beginning of trading in the shares of Deutsche Telekom, BSE investors will have access to telecom companies, a sector which was missing from the domestic stock exchange.

The management of "Tradeville" yesterday announced it would provide investors with information, by distributing reports and press releases concerning the three companies, through the FTP (electronic information dissemination system) of the Bucharest Stock Exchange.

Out of the three shares that began trading yesterday, shares of Bayer were among the most sought after by investors, with a volume of 1,708 shares traded, for 415,383 lei. However, the reference price fell 1.18%, to 244.68 lei. Shares of Deutsche Telekom (DTE) had a volume of 512 shares yesterday, at prices ranging between 44.3 lei and 45.18 lei/share. Shares of Daimler (DAI) and E.ON (EOAN) had a lower liquidity, with just 10 and 4 shares being exchanged, respectively.

Representatives of "Tradeville" said that investments in these stocks are subject to currency risk, as the fluctuations of the EUR/RON exchange rate could lead to changes in the price of the shares denominated in lei (even if the price remained constant in Euros), since the shares listed on the ATS are trade in lei.

Valentin Ionescu, the general manager of the BSE, yesterday said that brokerage firms that act as market makers on the ATS of the Exchange will receive certain benefits, under a program adopted by the Board of the Exchange to increase liquidity on the BSE.