DICE ARE SHAKEN IN THE MADRID MONOPOLY GAME
There are not many better ways of becoming rich in Spain than getting as seat on the Madrid Stock Exchange, the Bolsa. "If I was reincarnated, I'd want to come back as a Spanish stockbroker. They're set up for life," said one US banker in Madrid.
The 70 brokers who make up the Bolsa dominate the trading of financial instruments such as shares, bonds and debentures. (Only treasury bills are exempt and can be traded freely over the telephone). Most of the orders come from the banks, on behalf of their customers or for their own account. Each time a trade is made is requires a broker's stamp to make the transfer of ownership legal. According to some bankers, that is the extent of their service.
They do not provide research facilities and have insufficient capital to make markets. Their incomes are bolstered by a fixed commission of 0.25% on every trade and on government issues the deal is even better. "The issues are underwritten by Bolsa and the commission is distributed among the brokers. The lazy ones could go off to the Bahamas, keep their seat on the exchange and still get a guaranteed income," said one Spanish banker.