London Stock Exchange : welcomes Brazilian Finance Minister, Dr Joaquim Levy

• Finance Minister Levy opens London trading, addresses leading investors and advisors at London Stock Exchange
• Underscores London's role as the global capital markets partner for Brazilian companies

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) today welcomed Dr Joaquim Levy, Minister of Finance, Brazil who addressed a gathering of more than one hundred leading institutional investors and advisors, at LSEG's Brazilian Capital Markets Day. To celebrate the occasion, the Finance Minister opened trading at a special Market Open Ceremony, joined by London Stock Exchange Group Chairman, Dr Chris Gibson-Smith.

Dr Joaquim Levy, Minister of Finance of Brazil said:

"The world is trying to make infrastructure bonds into an asset class on its own, helping to unlock a tremendous amount of resources from institutional investors around the globe and helping accelerate the recovery of the world economy. Well designed projects, supported by the appropriate regulatory framework can make project bonds very attractive. Brazil wants to take on this challenge."

Xavier Rolet, CEO, London Stock Exchange Group said:

"As an enthusiastic partner and supporter of Brazil's extraordinary growth story, we are honoured to welcome Finance Minister Levy to open our markets and speak today. London Stock Exchange has always been home to ambitious, internationally focused companies and today's event provides an unparalleled opportunity to strengthen ties between our two economies. By facilitating Brazilian companies' access to London's international investment community, we hope to help facilitate their global ambitions and we look forward to working with our Brazilian partners to maximise these opportunities."

There are currently three Brazilian companies listed in London with a combined market capitalisation of $600m. In addition, there are 40 Latin American companies quoted in London with a total market capitalisation of more than $36bn. Together, they have raised more than $8bn in growth financing over the last 10 years.

Beyond IPOs, other divisions of LSEG are active in Brazil. In December, FTSE, the global index provider and Bradesco Asset Management, Brazil and Latin America's third largest investor launched an innovative Latin American equities fund to track a newly-developed FTSE equity index consisting of high-quality names from across the region.

In addition, there is a growing appetite amongst investors for Brazil-focused ETFs, of which there are seven listed on London Stock Exchange. Trading on these products has seen very strong growth, up 40 per cent year on year.

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About London Stock Exchange Group

London Stock Exchange Group (LSE.L) is a diversified international market infrastructure and capital markets business sitting at the heart of the world's financial community. The Group can trace its history back to 1698.

The Group operates a broad range of international equity, bond and derivatives markets, including London Stock Exchange; Borsa Italiana; MTS, Europe's leading fixed income market; and Turquoise, a pan-European equities MTF. It is also home to one of the world's leading growth markets for SMEs, AIM. Through its platforms, the Group offers international business and investors unrivalled access to Europe's capital markets.

Post trade and risk management services are a significant part of the Group's business operations. In addition to majority ownership of multi-asset global CCP operator, LCH.Clearnet Group, LSEG operates CC&G, the Italian clearing house; Monte Titoli, the T2S-ready European settlement business; and globeSettle, the Group's newly established CSD based in Luxembourg.

The Group is a global leader in indexing and analytic solutions. FTSE and Russell Indexes offer thousands of indices that measure and benchmark markets around the world. The Group also provides customers with an extensive range of real time and reference data products, including SEDOL, UnaVista, Proquote and RNS.

Following the acquisition of Russell Investments, LSEG conducted a comprehensive review of the investment management business to analyse its strategic fit with the Group. This was concluded in February 2015, and LSEG is now exploring a sale of the business in its entirety.

London Stock Exchange Group is a leading developer of high performance trading platforms and capital markets software for customers around the world. In addition to the Group's own markets, over 35 other organisations and exchanges use the Group's MillenniumIT trading, surveillance and post trade technology.

Headquartered in London, with significant operations in North America, Italy, France and Sri Lanka, the Group employs approximately 4,700 people.

Further information on London Stock Exchange Group can be found at www.lseg.com