Francisco Formariz, commercial director of Spanish stock exchanges and markets (BME) calls for “stability of international policies and legal security» given that this is what investors need, according to him. This week, 40 Latin American and Spanish companies with almost 60 investors will meet for the 26th edition of the Latibex Forum.
Formariz considers that “what the markets want is transparency and clear information. The commercial director assures that investors will be very attentive to the policies of the new president of USA, Donald Trump: “The important thing is to evaluate the intensity of each of the measures you announced to take.”
As an example, the manager highlighted the case of Mexicoa country with a “very important” relationship with the American nation. In this context, the new edition of the Latibex Forum is carried out with the aim of counteracting these tensions by building bridges between the different regions.
According to Formariz in an interview with EP, this trend of strengthening ties between Latin America and Spain has gained intensity in recent years, consolidating an increasingly close collaboration.
“Traditionally, it was Spain that was the protagonist of direct investments in Latin America,” he said, emphasizing that now Latin American economies and their companies are also embarking on the investment directly to Spain.
In this sense, he cited an Icex study from 2023 which shows that Latin America as a whole is the fourth global investor in Spain, behind the United States, Great Britain And Francewhile only Mexico would already occupy fifth place individually.
On a broader level, Formariz considered, given this trend, that it would even be possible to see in the future these Latin American companies choosing to go public in Europe via Spain.
In connection with this, the head of BME highlighted that in this edition of the forum there are already more than 250 private meetings scheduled between listed companies and potential investors, so that “investment decisions can be taken in the most efficient manner possible. “”.
Among the companies participating in the event are Latin American companies such as Cox Energy, Engie Energía Chile, Grupo Energía Bogotá, Grupo Financiero Banorte, Grupo Financiero. Inbursa, NeoenergyRotoplas or Volcán Compañía Minera, and listed Spanish companies with operations in Latin America such as Iberdrola, PhoneBBVA, IAG, Telefónica or Repsol.
Regarding the performance of BME and the different stock market debut which welcomed the Spanish market throughout the year, Formariz highlighted that it hosted one of the largest operations of the year in Europe, which was the beginning of the Catalan company Puig.
“Hopefully next year we will continue to add more,” he predicted after recalling other arrivals like those of Cox and Immediately (FCC), which took place this week, while the BME Growth segment received four companies during the year and BME Scaleup seventeen more.
“The market’s bet is always long-term,” he stressed about companies debating whether to jump to the stock market, while listing the market’s “many advantages,” such as visibility, liquidity, objective value. , financing capacity or talent attraction, among others.
