This year’s event, attended by 800 people from financial, economic and political circles, celebrated the 50th anniversary of the listing of the first Eurobond.

The first Eurobond was listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange on 17 July 1963 and in his opening speech, Frank Wagener, chairman of the board, paid tribute to those involved in this pioneering listing. He pointed out that the growth of the Eurobond market was key to its development as an international financial centre.

The guest speaker for the 2013 Stock Exchange Day was Yves Mersch, member of the executive board of the European Central Bank (ECB), who spoke on the perspectives and challenges of the euro and the ECB.

Yves Mersch presented an overview of the key economic, financial and regulatory issues in Europe. He focused on the challenges facing the European Central Bank in the implementation of the European monetary policy, pointing out that the banking union is a tool for the stability of the euro and a necessary complement to financial integration. He also raised the issue of the financial transaction tax and called for a thorough assessment of its effects in several areas. He concluded by stressing the need to persevere with the ongoing relaunch of the institutional underpinning to enable the ECB to be fully at the service of the euro and financial stability in Europe.

During the event, Robert Scharfe, CEO of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, unveiled the Fundsquare brand, a company that is to be constituted and will offer an infrastructure for the cross-border distribution of investment funds. With a planned operational start in the third quarter of this year, Fundsquare intends to provide greater efficiency and automation in this field.

He also announced the future launch of an index devoted to socially responsible investing. The “Lux RI Fund Index” will published daily from 1 July 2013 and will track the performance of funds active in responsible investing.