Brazil’s exchange BM&F Bovespa and the Colombian market Bolsa de Valores de Colombia (BVC), are discussing the potential interconnection of their equities, fixed income and derivatives markets.
Following the signature of a memorandum of understanding, the two exchanges are starting an exploration phase that will establish a plan for interconnection of the securities trading platforms in both countries, allowing bid and ask order routing.
The first step in the process will be to explore the benefits and opportunities in both markets. Further details including the date for interconnection will be decided later.
On 20 January, a memorandum of understanding was signed between BVC and the Peruvian exchange, Borsa de Valores de Lima (BVL), to merge the two venues in the second half of 2011. Under the agreement, which still requires approval from shareholders and regulators, the relative contribution of the BVC and the BVL will be 64% and 36% respectively and shareholders of both companies will become shareholders of the merged entity.
BVC is already a member of the Mercado Integrado Latinoamericano (MILA), an integration project that allows brokers to route orders to the stock exchanges of Chile, Peru and Colombia via a FIX connection maintained by all of the exchanges. The MILA order router went live in May 2011.