Small unprofitable brokers in Buenos Aires are playing a waiting game. They know their days are numbered and that they have neither the skill nor the capital to survive in the global era. When the trading floor of the exchange is finally closed, as everybody agrees it some day must be, many small firms will go with it.
But in the meantime they are in a position to hold up reform of the Argentine stock market and prevent it from responding to change. The fear is that they could be so successful that they kill the entire market in the process. Buenos Aires has been hit by a wave of delistings reducing its market capitalization by half and daily trading volumes to $20 million or $30 million from $50 million a few years back.
Globalization has also taken its toll on the market, with foreign companies busy delisting their Argentine subsidiaries (Repsol/YPF, Telefónica and BSCH/Banco Rio are the most high-profile), but the exchange's antiquated institutions have so far failed to respond. Whenever an attempt at reform is made, the old-fashioned and conservative members in the majority are able to block reforms.