Small stock market investors becoming extinct

The low prices of shares on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) and the high volume of stock sales have led to a significant drop in the number of small investors on the local capital market.

BVB data shows that the number of accounts through which Romanian individuals made at least one transaction last month dropped to some 7,000, the lowest level since February 2005, when the stock market began to centralize data on investors.

In previous years, sales accounts constantly exceeded the 100,000 threshold, as these included many transactions made by Romanians who received minor amounts of shares in the early 1990s, as part of the Mass Privatization Program. Stock given to the population was named coupons, and those who received them are known as "coupon owners." Some 10 million Romanians were granted such coupons.

This year, however, due to the global financial crisis, the number of sales accounts has declined constantly, dropping in November below 10,000 accounts, for the first time in years.

Business Standard