Colombian stock exchange La Bolsa de Valores de Colombia (BVC) has dropped 8.8% since the start of 2011, prompting concern, Portafolio reports.
This fall comes after the BVC had seen gains of 53% and 30% in 2009 and 2010, respectively. However, experts are expecting the market to eventually regain stability.
Speaking at the New York Stock Exchange, president of the BVC Juan Pablo Cordoba talked of the BVC’s potential and its planned merger with its Peruvian and Chilean counterparts.
If completed, the move would create the first combination of stock markets in Latin America and facilitate the operation of investors between three countries.
In addition, the measures would expand Colombia’s capital markets and build support for product development, Cordoba said.
Currently comprised of 19 companies who trade shares at over $1 million per day, the merger with Peru and Chile would create a market of over 50 companies trading shares at over $1 million per day. With this, Cordoba said, “you have the opportunity to include structured funds, exchange traded funds and index mutual funds.”
Should the merger with Peru prove a success, it will create the fourth largest market in Latin America, after Brazil, Mexico and Chile, with a value of $309 billion.
