Euronext facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Euronext N.V.

Euronext's main office is in the Euronext Amsterdam building in Amsterdam.
Type	Public (Naamloze vennootschap)
Traded as	Euronext Paris: ENX CAC Next 20 Component
ISIN	ISIN: [https://isin.toolforge.org/?language=en&isin=NL0006294274 NL0006294274]
Industry	Financial services
Founded	1285; 740 years ago (1285) (as Huis ter Beurze) 1602; 423 years ago (1602) (as Amsterdam Stock Exchange) 1724; 301 years ago (1724) (as Paris Bourse) 22 September 2000; 24 years ago (2000-09-22) (present consortium)
Headquarters	Paris, France (operational headquarters) Amsterdam, Netherlands (registered office)
Key people	Stéphane Boujnah (CEO & Chairman of the Managing Board)
Subsidiaries	Euronext Clearing Euronext Securities Euronext FX Commodity exchanges: Nord Pool Fish Pool

Euronext N.V. is a big European company that runs several stock exchanges. It helps people buy and sell different types of financial products. Euronext also offers services to help manage these trades after they happen.

You can trade many things on Euronext, like shares of companies (called equities), exchange-traded funds (ETFs), bonds, and commodities (like electricity or salmon). They also handle foreign currency trading. In 2021, nearly 2,000 companies were listed on Euronext. Their total value was about €6.9 trillion!

Euronext is the largest place in the world for listing debt and funds. It also provides technology and services to other companies. Besides its main market, Euronext has special markets called Euronext Growth and Euronext Access. These help smaller companies get listed and raise money. Euronext's commodity markets include Nord Pool for electricity and Fish Pool for salmon.

After trades happen, Euronext helps finish them. This includes "clearing" (making sure trades are secure) through its company, Euronext Clearing, based in Rome. It also handles "custody and settlement" (making sure ownership changes correctly) through Euronext Securities.

Euronext's main offices are in Amsterdam and Paris.

Euronext has a long history, going back to the first stock markets in Europe. These started in places like Bruges (1285), Antwerp (1485), and Amsterdam (1602). The Paris Stock Exchange started in 1724. The Euronext we know today was created in September 2000. This happened when the stock exchanges in Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris joined together. The idea was to create one big, easy-to-use market for trading across Europe. Since then, Euronext has grown and now runs stock exchanges in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Portugal, Ireland, and Norway. This growth happened around the same time the euro currency was introduced, making European financial markets more connected.

In 2014, Euronext became its own company again. Before that, it was part of a bigger company called Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).

In August 2023, Euronext teamed up with 13 other stock exchanges to form EuroCTP. This new group aims to create a "consolidated tape" for the European Union. This tape will make it easier to see all stock trading information in one place.

How Euronext Works

Trading Services

Euronext offers many ways to trade different financial products.

Buying and Selling Shares

The old trading floor at Euronext's office in Amsterdam.

Euronext runs its main stock market. It also has two special markets for smaller companies: Euronext Growth and Euronext Access. These markets make it easier for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to get listed and raise money.

All trades on Euronext happen on a single computer system called Optiq.

Euronext markets (September 2020)

Type of Market		EU regulated	Other trading places
Market Name		Euronext	Euronext Growth	Euronext Access
Number of Companies		776	229	180
Average Value when first listed (€m)	Size	278.1	22.8	0.1
	Total Market Value	5,514	97	51
Where you can list (Market Identifier Code)
Amsterdam		XAMS
Brussels		XBRU	ALXB	MLXB
Lisbon		XLIS	ALXL	ENXL
Dublin		XMSM	XESM
Milan		XMIL	EXGM
Oslo		XOSL	MERK
Paris		XPAR	ALXP	XMLI

Euronext also manages many stock market indexes. These are like baskets of stocks that show how a certain market or industry is doing.

Main Indexes managed by Euronext

Name	Symbol	Trading Currency
European
Euronext 100	N100	EUR
National
AEX	AEX	EUR
BEL 20	BEL20	EUR
CAC 40	PX1	EUR
ISEQ 20	ISEQ20	EUR
FTSE MIB	MIB	EUR
PSI 20	PSI20	EUR
OBX 25	OBX	NOK

Foreign Currency Exchange

Euronext FX is a global platform where people can trade different currencies. It used to be called FastMatch until 2019.

Commodities Trading

Euronext allows trading in several commodities, which are basic goods used in commerce. These include:

• Electricity through Nord Pool
• Salmon futures through Fish Pool
• Wheat (milling and durum)
• Rapeseed
• Corn
• Wood pellets

Derivatives Trading

Euronext also runs markets for derivatives. These are financial contracts whose value comes from an underlying asset.

Debt and Funds Listings

Euronext is the biggest place in the world for listing debt (like bonds) and funds.

Exchange-Traded Funds

Euronext also offers exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These are like investment funds that trade on stock exchanges, similar to stocks.

Post-Trade Services

After a trade happens, Euronext helps make sure everything is completed correctly.

Central Securities Depository

Euronext helps with "custody and settlement" through its company, Euronext Securities. This means they keep records of who owns what shares and make sure shares are transferred correctly when they are bought or sold. Euronext owns similar companies in Denmark, Italy, Norway, and Portugal.

Clearing Services

"Clearing" is a service that makes sure trades are secure and completed, even if one side of the trade has problems. Euronext now has its own clearing company called Euronext Clearing. It used to be called Cassa di Compensazione e Garanzia S.p.A. (CC&G) before Euronext bought the Italian Bourse in 2021.

Corporate Services

Euronext Corporate Services (ECS) is a part of Euronext that helps other companies. It offers solutions and services to over 4,000 organizations, from businesses to government groups. ECS has bought several companies that offer services like webcasting, board meeting software, and compliance software.

Financial Information

Euronext's History

How Euronext Started

• 

  Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam, an old stock exchange building

• 

  The former building of the Brussels Stock Exchange

• 

  The Palais Brongniart in Paris, once a stock exchange

• 

  The stock exchange building in Dublin

• 

  The stock exchange building in Oslo

• 

  Palazzo Mezzanotte in Milan

In 1998, the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse (the German stock exchange) wanted to team up. They hoped to compete better and benefit from the euro currency in Europe. In 1999, several other stock exchanges, including Paris, Zurich, Madrid, Brussels, Amsterdam, and Milan, also planned to join forces.

In the end, only three exchanges decided to merge. On September 22, 2000, Euronext was officially formed. It was a merger of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the Brussels Stock Exchange, and the Paris Bourse.

In 2001, Euronext itself became a publicly traded company. This means its own shares could be bought and sold on a stock exchange.

Euronext continued to grow by buying other exchanges. In 2001, it bought the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE), creating Euronext.LIFFE. In 2002, it merged with the Portuguese stock exchange, which was renamed Euronext Lisbon.

Becoming Part of NYSE Euronext

Euronext's first logo (2000-2007)

Logo of NYSE Euronext (2007-2012)

Logo of NYSE Euronext (2012-2014)

In 2006, the NYSE Group, which owned the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), offered to buy Euronext. This was to prevent other exchanges from buying Euronext first. Even though Deutsche Börse made a higher offer, NYSE Group and Euronext agreed to merge.

On April 4, 2007, the merger was completed, and the new company was called NYSE Euronext. This new company aimed to create the world's first truly global stock market. It would allow trading of stocks and other financial products almost continuously for 21 hours a day.

There were attempts to merge NYSE Euronext with Deutsche Börse in 2008, 2009, and 2011. However, the European Commission blocked the 2011 deal. They said it would create a company that was too powerful in the European financial derivatives market.

In 2012, another company called Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) announced plans to buy NYSE Euronext. ICE mainly traded commodities, while NYSE Euronext focused on stocks. So, the deal was not expected to cause problems with regulators. ICE planned to sell the Euronext part of the company after the deal.

The acquisition by ICE was approved by shareholders and regulators in 2013. It was completed on November 13, 2013.

Euronext Becomes Independent Again

As part of ICE's plan, Euronext became an independent company again on June 20, 2014. This happened through an initial public offering (IPO), where its shares were sold to the public. To help stabilize Euronext, a group of eleven investors bought a large part of the company. These "reference shareholders" included banks and investment companies.

Since then, Euronext has continued to grow and acquire other companies:

• In 2017, Alternext (a market for smaller companies) was renamed Euronext Growth.
• In August 2017, Euronext bought FastMatch, a currency trading platform.
• In March 2018, it bought the Irish Stock Exchange.
• In June 2019, it bought the Oslo Stock Exchange.
• In December 2019, Euronext announced it would buy most of Nord Pool, an electricity exchange. This deal was completed in January 2020.
• In April 2020, Euronext announced it would buy most of VP Securities, a Danish company that handles securities. This was completed in August 2020.
• In September 2020, Euronext agreed to buy the Italian Bourse (the Milan stock exchange). This big deal was completed in April 2021.

See also

In Spanish: Euronext para niños

• Bourse of Antwerp, the world's first financial exchange
• Economy of the European Union
• Euroclear
• List of European stock exchanges
• List of stock exchanges