Euronext

Become a sponsor »

Euronext
Founded	2000
Headquarters	Paris
Key People	Stéphane Boujnah, Chief Executive
Website	www.euronext.com

Designated Contract Market Regulation - Comment Letter - NYSE Liffe - February 22, 2011

Derivatives Clearing Organizations Regulation - Comment Letter - NYSE Liffe US - November 16, 2010

Swap Entities Regulation

Futures Commission Merchant Regulation

Euronext is the first pan-European exchange operator, spanning Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, the UK and Ireland. It was formed in September 2000 and brought together markets which dated back to the 17th century. It operates Euronext Amsterdam, Euronext Paris, Euronext Brussels, Euronext London and Euronext Lisbon and Euronext Dublin, (formerly the Irish Stock Exchange), and Oslo Børs as subsidiaries.

The combined exchange lists about 1,300 stocks in the UK and Europe on its Universal Trading Platform. It also is the largest market for debt and funds with more than 37,000 bonds and 5,600 funds, plus 1,050 ETFs. It also offers FX trading and derivatives on its electronic platform.

Euronext ranked 25th among global derivatives exchanges by volume in 2019, with 144 million contracts traded, down 3.47 percent from the previous year, according to Futures Industry Association annual volume figures.

A publicly traded exchange, Euronext had a market cap of €4.2 billion in April 2019.

History

Euronext was formed on Sept. 22, 2000. It was the first genuinely cross-border exchange organization. Following the merger of the Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels exchanges in 2000, Euronext acquired the London-based derivatives market, the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE), and merged with the Portuguese exchange, BVLP, in 2002.

Euronext integrated its markets with strategic business units and harmonized market rules and regulatory framework.

Euronext’s first IT integration was completed in 2004, when a four-year migration plan resulted in harmonized IT platforms for cash trading (NSC) and derivatives trading (LIFFE CONNECT), providing market participants a single point of access to trading. Euronext’s IT structure was rationalized in 2005 with the creation of Atos Euronext Market Solutions (AEMS), an IT services-related vehicle between Euronext and Atos Origin. With its merger with the NYSE, Euronext and NYSE's technology was integrated into a new Universal Trading Platform (UTP), which it continued to use following the IPO, and split from ICE in 2014.

It was acquired by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) on November 13, 2013 when the NYSE Euronext Group was purchased by ICE, and then was spun off in June 2014, when Euronext detached itself from ICE through an IPO. ICE sold the last of its shares in Euronext, completing its exit from the business, in December 2014.

The Euronext initial public offering, held on June 19, 2014, sold for €20 per share in an €845 million ($1.2 billion) transaction. The offering of 42.2 million shares, excluding stock allocated to the underwriters, was at the low end of the announced range of €19 to €25 euros. The stock trades in Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels under the “ENX” symbol. The deal valued the exchange at 1.4 billion euros, or $1.9 billion.

All of the 42,248,881 offered Shares were sold in the IPO, representing 60.36% of the total issued ordinary share capital of the company. Before the IPO, ICE sold a stake of 33.36% to a group that included Banco Espirito Santo SA, BNP Paribas SA (BNP), ABN Amro Group NV, Societe Generale SA (GLE) and Euroclear SA/NV, at a price of €19.20 per share.

ICE separated NYSE and its derivatives exchange Liffe from Euronext ahead of the planned IPO.

In preparation for the "demerger" from ICE, Euronext reorganized its business and management team, promoting Amaury Dauge, its head of corporate planning, to the role of chief finance officer. It also named Anthony Attia as chief executive of Euronext Paris, a role that will be independent of the holding company for the first time.

Euronext acquired 90 percent of FastMatch, an ECN for trading foreign exchange in May of 2017 for $153 million. It renamed the platform Euronext FX in April 2019. The name Fastmatch, refers to the trading technology that powers the system.

In a move to expand the exchange group's exposure into a sixth "core" market, position itself for Brexit fallout, and tap into a hub for European ETFs, Euronext announced in November 2017 that it would purchase the Irish Stock Exchange for $163 million. It completed the deal, which granted it 100 percent ownership, in March 2018.

On January 14, 2019, Euronext launched a $729 million bid for Oslo Børs. Euronext already owned 5.1 percent of the bourse. Oslo Børs then invited rival bids following Euronext’s offer, noting the auction of shares was arranged by Oslo Børs’ majority shareholders without the knowledge of the exchange. Nasdaq subsequently made a rival bid for Oslo Bors that exceeded Euronext’s initial bid. By April 2019. both offers were equal at $791 million, or 158 Norwegian crowns per share. Norway's Ministry of Finance approved Euronext's bid to buy up to 100 percent of Oslo Børs on May 13, 2019 for $779 million, beating out Nasdaq's offer. The deal was unanimously approved by Euronext's shareholders on May 16, 2019, and closed in June 2019. Nasdaq formally withdrew its bid on May 27, 2019.

The company moved into the digital asset space in July 2019, with a €5 million capital investment in Tokeny Solutions, which provides private market securities issuers technology that manages and transfers tokenized securities on a public blockchain. The company also includes compliance obligations in its smart contracts. Euronext took a 23.5 percent stake and has governance representation.

In November 2020, Euronext shareholders voted unanimously in favor of its acquiring Borsa Italiana from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). Euronext completed the acquisition of Borsa Italiana on April 29, 2021 for €4,444 million. The transaction was contingent on the European Commission’s approval of LSEG’s proposed $27 billion takeover of Refinitiv, which was approved and completed in 2021.

In June 2022, Euronext said it would acquire the technology business supporting its fixed income platform, MTS, from Nexi for €57 million. The deal represents a key milestone in the Borsa Italiana Group integration process, according to Euronext CEO Stéphane Boujnah.

Growth Strategy

Euronext outlined its strategy in October 2019 out to 2022, announcing its "Let's Grow Together 2022" slogan. The plan, an extension of its 2014 strategy, called for Euronext to grow in corporate services, FX and data services and develop new initiatives in sectors such as investor services, post trade and new asset classes. The company plans to expand its IPOs by strengthening support and processes for technology and small and medium sized firms. It aims to expand its debt and funds business, including green bonds. It also wants to expand its commodities derivatives, add FX derivatives. And it plans to invest in advanced data and build analytics products and "exploit the power" of Optiq, its trading platform to create an entire ecosystem of products and services, With the acquisition of Oslo Bors VPS, Euronext aims to transform its post-trade services into value-added solutions for customers.

As part of that growth strategy, in June 2020, Euronext launched a new suite of ESG products and services, including a new Euronext ESG 80 index and derivatives, expanded ESG bonds offering, new ESG services for listed companies, and an alignment of the Low Carbon 100 index to the Paris Agreement. It also endorsed the UN Global Compact's Ocean principles.

Organic revenue growth was projected at 2% to 3% on a compound annual growth rate from 2018 to 2022. The 2022 target for Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) is 60%.

Contract Volume

Year	Total Annual Volume*	Percent Change
2021	164,051,549	(-) 6.57%
2020	175,583,217	15.5%
2019	144,081,157	(-) 3.47%
2018	149,254,141	6.4%
2017	140,276,927	11.1%
2016	126,241,982	(-) 6.8%
2015	135,515,683	(-) 5.9%
2014	144,058,876	(-) 2.2%
2013	147,855,797	--

Products and Services

Euronext's total product offering includes equities, exchange traded funds, warrants & certificates, bonds, derivatives, commodities and indices.

On May 1, 2014, Euronext announced that it would launch central clearing to facilitate the trading of Exchange for Physicals (EFP) on index futures. The service will be available first on CAC 40® and AEX-Index® Futures and is expected to be fully operational in the first quarter 2015. The EFP trading will use LCH.Clearnet as the CCP.

On July 16, 2014, Euronext announced the launch of weekly expiry dates on its CAC40 and AEX future contracts. This initiative is the first of its kind in Europe. It is designed to complement the traditional monthly or quarterly expiry. The launch is planned for the fourth quarter of 2014.

On Oct. 8, 2014, the exchange announced that it had received approval from the SEC to offer Dutch and Belgian equity and equity-index options to certain eligible US investors. It also received an extension to the current arrangements on equity option contracts available for trading on Euronext Paris. Qualified US investors are already able to trade index futures on the AEX, CAC40, BEL 20 and all Euronext commodity products.

In April 2015, Euronext announced plans to launch an Inter-Commodity Spread facility at the end of the month to enable customers to trade spreads between its main wheat contract and it's new No. 3 premium wheat contract, which began trading in March 2015. The facility is intended to boost liquidity in the No. 3 contract. The No. 2 contract is a price benchmark in Europe.

On June 1, 2015, Euronext announced the launch of three country indices: the Euronext Germany Index GR (ENDEG); the Euronext Italy Index (ENITI); and the Euronext Spain Index (ENESI). The indices will serve as the underlying for new index futures and index options, which will be available for trading in the third quarter of 2015. The country indices are composed of the 30 companies with the highest free float market capitalization listed on the main markets of the respective country, with a free float higher than 15 percent and a 12 month velocity score of 20 or more.

On September 28, 2015, Euronext announced the launch of the Euronext BeNe 40 Equal Weight Index, composed of the 40 most traded companies included in the Belgian and Dutch markets, the BEL 20® and AEX® indices. The index is designed to act as an underlying for exchange traded funds (ETFs) and other investable products, such as structured products.

On October 26, 2015, Euronext announced the launch of AtomX, a new service designed for investors looking to bilaterally negotiate trades. AtomX will allow users to customize and trade options and futures, each of which will be cleared through LCH Clearnet. The launch came at a time when regulators were calling for more compliance and transparency in the clearing of over-the-counter derivatives.

On May 10, 2016, Euronext announced plans to launch the first physically-deliverable futures contract for nitrogen solution in the fall of 2016. The contract is aimed at the European market and intended to complement the group’s commodity futures offering.

On February 15, 2017, Euronext said it would launch a block trading services for large orders in European equities in mid-2017, using technology from New York-based AX Trading. The service will combine a continuous order book with auctions and both conditional and firm order types.

Sustainability at Euronext

Information about Euronext's corporate commitment to ESG can be found on its website here.

In January 2023, Euronext announced on Linkedin that it had listed EUR 1 trillion in sustainable bonds, saying it reached the EUR 1 trillion figure through issuance from Gecina – SBTi 1.5° ESG bond issuer – of green bonds totaling EUR 150 million to be used for green building and construction.

Of the EUR 1 trillion in sustainable bonds listed on Euronext:

• 59% are green bonds;
• 24% are social bonds;
• 12% are sustainability bonds;
• 5% are sustainability-linked bonds.

On May 10, 2022, Euronext released a video explaining its ESG Bond Initiative.

Euronext ESG Bonds

John Lothian News Interviews In March 2022, CEO and Chairman Stéphane Boujnah discussed Euronext ESG, green and other initiatives in a video interview with John Lothian News at the International Futures Industry Conference in Boca Raton, Fla.

Euronext Ceo Stéphane Boujnah Discusses Markets During War Time And Platform Consolidation In Europe On Jun 16, 2020, Euronext released a video on YouTube in which CEO and Chairman Stéphane Boujnah explained Euronext’s philosophy related to ESG.

ESG| Empowering Sustainable Growth with Euronext CEO and Chairman Stéphane Boujnah

Videos

“Introduction to Euronext MATIF”, with Nick Kennedy, Head of Commodities, at Euronext

Video #3: “Introduction: cash-settled commodity contract” with Caroline Bitton, Sales Manager - Commodities

Video #1: “What is an Exchange?”, with Roland Prevot, Head of Retail, Equity Markets, at Euronext

Key People

• Stephane Boujnah, CEO and Chairman of the Managing Board
• Lee Hodgkinson, Head of Markets and Global Sales and CEO of Euronext London
• Adam Rose, Head of Financial Derivatives
• Danielle Ballardie, Head of Cash Markets
• Benjamin Fussien, Head of Exchange Traded Funds & Investment Funds