Background

The National Association of Financial Market Institutions (ANDIMA - Associação Nacional das Instituições do Mercado Financeiro) is a brazilian non-profit civil entity that brings together several financial institutions ranging from commercial, multiple and investment banks to stock-brokers and securities distributors. More than a tool for representing this sector, the Association is well known as a leading service-provider, offering technical and operating support to these institutions, opening up new markets, and working towards the integration of Brazil's National Financial System (SFN - Sistema Financeiro Nacional).

Established in 1971, ANDIMA has always worked closely with leading players on Brazil's financial markets. On the one hand are authorities in the economic area, represented by the Brazilian Central Bank, with institutions and other associations in the financial area on the other. In 1979, its first partnership resulted in a pioneering initiative: the Special Settlement and Custody System (SELIC - Sistema Especial de Liquidação e Custódia) which is one of the world's most modern and sophisticated electronic trading systems for Government Papers. In 1986, its second partnership gave rise to the CETIP - OTC Clearing House (CETIP S.A. – Balcão Organizado de Ativos e Derivativos) which is an entity aligned with international standards specialized in trading in private papers.

Both these systems endow financial transactions in Brazil with security, transparency and agility, replacing papers and checks by electronic records that are controlled through computer terminals.

The success of the SELIC and CETIP initiatives prompted the introduction of the Market Telecommunications Network (RTM - Rede de Telecomunicações para o Mercado) in 1997. This multimedia technology network interconnects hundreds of financial institutions and data providers through exclusive high-speed fiber-optic channels transmitting data, voice and images.

RTM, in partnership with Embratel, operates as one of the communication networks for the new SPB - Brazilian Payments System, which came into existence on April 22, 2002.

In 1999 the Association made a significant contribution to the self-regulation process of Brazil's financial markets: re-writing its Code of Ethics, establishing professional standards of conduct and introducing the Market Operations Code (COM) which brings together the practices and procedures to be complied with by participants in this sector. Acknowledging its representative powers, the Brazilian Central Bank officially appointed ANDIMA to handle the daily announcements of the prices on the secondary Government papers market.

At present, the Code of Ethics and the Operational Code have been adopted by the members of CETIP, Sisbex, and Abrapp - Brazilian Association of Private Complementary Pension Groups.

The technical support offered by ANDIMA includes daily monitoring of market behavior with the dissemination of statistical data; monitoring legislation; preparing analyses, studies and reports on key economic issues;elaboration of analyses and reports about relevant economic themes; the sending of complaints and suggestions to the authorities of the economic area; and running one of the most complete data-bases in Brazil, which is open to society at large through publications or electronic media. Besides this, the Association works in the qualification of professionals for the financial area, maintaining a permanent program of training that includes an MBA in Finances, a result of an agreement with Coppead/UFRJ, in Rio de Janeiro.