The Italian stock exchange, Borsa Italiana, marks its 200th anniversary on Saturday and its bicentennial was celebrated here on Friday by top political and financial leaders.
It opened on February 16, 1808 as the Milan Borsa di Commercio (Commodities Exchange) and remained a public enterprise until it was privatized in 1997.
Last year, Borsa Italiana was acquired by the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and the two exchanges merged as of October 1.
Borsa Italiana is responsible for Italy's derivatives markets and its fixed income market.
It is also involved in buying and selling government securities and nonconvertible bonds, as well as Eurobonds, bonds from foreign issuers and asset-backed securities.
Among those taking part for the bicentennial celebration were President Giorgio Napolitano, Premier Romano Prodi, Economy Minister Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa and a host of leading business leaders including Fiat Chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne, Pirelli chief Marco Tronchetti Provera.
In his address, outgoing Premier Romano Prodi said that Italy ''had the courage to ally with the LSE. It's a shame that other countries in the euro zone did not follow this example because it would be opportune to have a single exchange in the area''.
The German exchange currently stands alone while the exchanges in Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and Lisbon joined together in Euronext which then allied with the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
NYSE Euronext had been interested in Borsa Italiana while merger plans between the Milan exchange and Frankfurt's Deutsche Borse fell through in 2006, reportedly because the Italians wanted a bigger role than the Germans felt they deserved.
Others attending Friday's celebration included the head of the stock market watchdog Consob, Lamberto Cardia; Intesa SanPaolo Bank chairman Giovani Bazoli; Unicredit Chairman Dieter Rampl; and Italian Banking Association (ABI) President Corrado Faissola.
Hosting the event were Borsa Italiana Chairman Angelo Tantazzi and CEO Massimo Capuano, while the LSE was represented by Chairman Chris Gibson-Smith.
