Mercado Abierto Electrónico

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Mercado Abierto Electrónico (MAE) is Argentina’s electronic market for trading securities and currencies. It uses a modular platform to trade government and private fixed‑income securities, foreign currencies and swaps, as well as currency and interest‑rate futures. The system is also used for trading bills and bonds issued by the Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA) and for issuing bonds by the National State.

The Open Securities Market (Mercado Abierto de Títulos Valores) began in 1970 after Law 17,811 and started operating in the mid‑1970s. By 1980 it had grown to more than 450 brokers. MAE was founded in 1988.

International links started in 1999 when Uruguay’s BEVSA gained access to the SIOPEL electronic trading system, enabling joint operation. In 2000 MAE signed with Brazil’s BOVESPA for a license to use the system. In 2002 MAE, Chile’s BEC and BEVSA signed a Master Agreement to interconnect their markets’ information and trading systems, aiming to connect Chile, Argentina and Uruguay on an open platform.

In January 2004 MAE signed a cooperation with Mercado de Valores del Litoral (MVL) to install SIOPEL for all its members, strengthening regional integration. In 2005 MAE reached an agreement with Colombia’s stock exchange (BVC) and the Bank of the Republic of Colombia (BRC) to use SIOPEL in Colombia’s floating and fixed income markets from 2006. At the end of 2006 the Buenos Aires Forward Market (Mercado a Término de Buenos Aires) signed to use SIOPEL for futures and options starting in April 2007. Also in late 2006, MAE signed with Costa Rica’s National Stock Exchange (BNVCR) to use SIOPEL, consolidating screens, speeding transactions and increasing security.