Athens Stock Exchange
| Athens Exchange | |
| |
| Founded | 1876 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Athens, Greece |
| Key People | Yianos Kontopoulos, Chief Executive Officer |
| Employees | 201-500 employees |
| Products | shares, bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), futures, and options |
| Profile | |
| Website | www.athexgroup.gr |
| Releases | Company News |
The Athens Stock Exchange is the principal securities market operator in Greece, providing a platform for trading equities, derivatives, bonds, and other financial instruments, headquartered in Athens and tracing its origins to 1876.[1]
History[edit]
The Athens Stock Exchange (ATHEX) was founded by decree of the Greek government on September 30, 1876, and began operations in 1880, initially as a self-regulated public organization with trading taking place for just one hour per weekday. Over the subsequent decades, the exchange moved headquarters several times, eventually settling at its Sofokleous Street site which made “Sofokleous” synonymous with the Greek market.
ATHEX became a public entity in 1918 and underwent major reforms in the 1990s, moving to electronic trading in 1991 and transforming into a public limited company in 1995, with the state gradually divesting its ownership. The Athens Derivatives Exchange and Clearing House started operations in 1999 and merged with ATHEX in 2002, consolidating its role as the central exchange in Greece.[2]
The ATHEX is a member exchange of the World Federation of Exchanges.[3][4]
In September of 2009, a car bomb blew up outside of the Athens Stock Exchange. The exchange opened normally, despite the fact the blast blew out windows on several floors of the stock exchange and hurled debris hundreds of meters away from the building.[5][6]
Euronext Acquisition[edit]
In July 2025, ATHEX received an unsolicited all share takeover proposal from Euronext. The board of directors of ATHEX announced that, as part of its assessment of the proposal, it had entered into discussions with Euronext.[7] In November of 2025, Euronext announced the completion of its voluntary share exchange offer for all outstanding shares of ATHEX. ATHEX became the eighth exchange to join Euronext’s federal model.[8]
Products and Services[edit]
ATHEX operates several markets, including the regulated securities market, derivatives market, an alternative market focused on smaller firms, a carbon market, and over-the-counter (OTC) services.[9]
Investors can trade a diverse array of products such as shares, bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), futures, and options, as well as specialized instruments like green and sustainability bonds.[10]
The exchange also operates the ATHEX Bonds GREENet for climate and social finance and provides various post-trading, clearing, and settlement services through subsidiaries such as ATHEXClear and ATHEXCSD.[11]
Key People[edit]
Management[edit]
- Yianos Kontopoulos, Chief Executive Officer
Board of Directors[edit]
- George Handjinicolaou, Chairperson, Independent Non-executive Chairman of the BoD
- John Costopoulos, Member, Independent Non-executive Vice Chairman of the BoD
- Dimitrios Dosis, Member, Independent Non-executive Member of the BoD
- Giorgos Doukidis, Member, Independent Non-executive Member of the BoD
- Polyxeni Kazoli, Member, Independent Non-executive Member of the BoD
- Theano Karpodini, Member, Independent Non-executive Member of the BoD
- Nicholaos Krenteras, Member, Independent Non-executive Member of the Bo
- Yianos Kontopoulos, Member, Chief Executive Officer, Executive member of the BoD
- Spyridoula Papagiannidou, Member, Independent Non-executive Member of the BoD
- Konstantinos Vassiliou, Member, Independent Non-executive Member of the BoD
- Thomas Zeeb, , Independent Non-executive Member of the BoD
Resources[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ Our History. Athens Stock Exchange.
- ↑ Helex History -ATHEX. Athens Stock Exchange.
- ↑ 2010 Annual Report & Statistics. World Federation of Exchanges.
- ↑ Members. World Federation of Exchanges.
- ↑ Bomb Hits Athens Stock Exchange. ABC News.
- ↑ Athens Exchange S.A. Operates Normally. ATHEX.
- ↑ Update on Takeover Proposal from Euronext. ATHEX Group.
- ↑ Euronext welcomes ATHEX Group. Euronext.
- ↑ ATHEX - Invest in Athens Stock Exchange. Athens Stock Exchange.
- ↑ Trading Products & Services. Athens Stock Exchange.
- ↑ Athens Stock Exchange. Athens Stock Exchange.