MARF celebrates its tenth anniversary with more than 70 billion issued in the market

• BME's Fixed Income market celebrates its first decade with 143 issuers and an outstanding balance, total financing provided to the real economy at this time, close to 8,000 million

BME's fixed income market, MARF, celebrates its tenth anniversary. In this first decade of life, a total of 143 companies have obtained financing directly from the market and several hundred more have done so through their participation in securitization funds. Total resources channeled in this period exceeded 70 billion euros.

The total volume of financing that the market is currently providing to the real economy, measured through its outstanding balance, total debt admitted to trading, is close to 8,000 million euros, which are represented in the different financial instruments offered by the MARF. In its ten-year history, this market has established itself as a solid financing alternative for companies of all sizes and sectors of the economy.

Since its creation in October 2013, the MARF has grown steadily in both the number of companies and the amount financed through the market. Of the 143 direct issuers in the MARF, 14 are international, highlighting a relevant representation of Portuguese companies. The MARF offers a wide variety of financing posibilities, ranging from promissory note programs for obtaining short-term financing to medium and long-term bond issues, as well as project bonds for infrastructure financing and securitizations. In addition, in recent years ESG securities have started to be issued in the market: sustainable bonds, sustainability-linked bonds, social bonds or green issues.

"At the time of the MARF's creation, just after the great financial crisis, there was a pressing need in the Spanish economy to diversify companies' sources of financing. Ten years later, we believe that this BME market has made a decisive contribution to this, thanks to its streamlined procedures and flexibility, which allow each company to choose the alternative that best suits its needs," explains Gonzalo Gómez Retuerto, CEO of BME Renta Fija and MARF.

Another of the MARF's milestones in its first ten years of history has been its leading role in public-private collaboration in response to the coronavirus crisis, as 4,000 million euros worth of ICO guarantees were channeled through this market. The ICO also participates actively as an investor in the primary market, providing financing to companies. The support of institutions such as CESCE or COFIDES has also been relevant in some of the issues that have been launched in the market. In terms of international recognition, since 2020, the MARF has been included in the list of eligible markets by the ECB, which meant that the central bank could acquire debt registered in this market from BME in its stimulus programs, and in 2022 the market obtained the status of Recognised Overseas Investment Exchange (ROIE) by the British FCA for the provision of its services in the United Kingdom.

You can find more information about the MARF on its website.