Mission accomplished, by Italian stock exchangefor the first step of the plan to migrate markets to Optiq, the trading platform of Euronext. The first week after the “go live”, which took place last Friday, passed without a hitch and for this reason the first objective, which concerns the integration of stock markets and ETFs within the group, was achieved. «Looking at what happened in the previous operations in Ireland and Norway, markets that are in any case smaller than the Italian one – he explains the managing director of Borsa, Fabrizio Testa -, we expect a significant increase, following this integration, in terms of liquidity, both in terms of the number of trades and in terms of volumes. We have already seen positive indications in recent days, even if it is too early for an evaluation». As far as revenue synergies are concerned, Euronext indicates the annual run-rate target for 2024 at 115 million, and this migration chapter (which follows the shift in operations of the Data center from the UK to Italy) is a fundamental component for the goal set. A gradual approach to the goal is expected in the current year, with the migration of all the markets of the previous platform, ie the Millennium, proceeding; but “once the three envisaged phases have been completed – explains Testa -, the synergies will fully unfold their effect”.
The migration, which concretely entailed a work of development and alignment of the software used on the domestic market, now allows the complete integration of Piazza Affari in the Euronext network, which includes in addition to Milan, theand stock exchanges in Amsterdam, Brussels, Dublin, Lisbon, Milan, Oslo and Paris. «The transition from a domestic infrastructure to a federal one – explains the CEO of Borsa – allows investors and intermediaries to automatically expand access and business. By joining the largest European liquidity pool of Euronext we further strengthen the Italian capital markets: increase product liquidity, visibility and possibility of trading; issuers now have continuous access to a greater number of investors, to a wider network of intermediaries». The next step will be the migration of the fixed income, warrants and certificates markets in September. Finally, next year it will be the turn of derivatives and commodities. On another level, however, the European expansion of Euronext clearing is expected from October, which at the moment only serves the Italian market: it will start from Belgium as a pilot market and then expand to the other Euronext markets (excluding Oslo, for reasons currency).
Going back to Optiq, today the platform manages (using the infrastructure of the core center in Ponte San Pietro, in Bergamo) 25% of European equity trading activities. A single access point for thousands of national and international institutional investors, as well as individual investors, to trade all the securities of the 7 Euronext markets. “In recent years,” he explains the CEO of the Stéphane Boujnah Group – Euronext created the largest European liquidity pool and leading trading venue in Europe, ensuring best execution and superior market quality to all market participants. Following the successful data center migration to the EU completed in June 2022, we have now completed this first migration, 22 months after the acquisition of Borsa Italiana, confirming our ambition to be the leading market infrastructure in Europe.
