The roots of PLUS Markets Group lie in the market formerly known as Ofex,
which was founded in 1995 as a facility for trading shares in unlisted
companies. The Market Abuse regime that came into effect in December
2001 with the implementation of the new Financial Services & Markets
Act 2000 covered all securities traded on the market. In 2002, Ofex became
a prescribed market under Section 118 of the Financial Services &
Markets Act 2000, authorised and regulated by the Financial Services
Authority (FSA), and Ofex plc took over the operation of the market.
In 2003, Ofex Holdings plc - by then the holding company - itself became
a quoted company. During 2004, John Jenkins OBE was appointed Honorary Life
President of the company.
PLUS Markets Group plc was born in November 2004, as the holding company was
renamed following a refinancing and the appointment of a new Board and
management team. The new team was given a mandate to reform the underlying
market and also broaden its range of services. Its future was assured by
the financial support of the UK smaller companies investment community and
its market participants. PMG now benefits from a supportive shareholder
base and is managed by a dedicated team with a track record in the smaller
companies public market community.
With the support of leading market participants, PMG created and launched
an enhanced trading platform known as the PLUS service in December 2005,
enabling PMG to trade in listed and unlisted securities with a quotation
on other markets. PMG subsequently embarked on a programme of reform to
combine the primary and secondary market services under the brand identity
of PLUS - aligning Ofex and the PLUS service with its holding company,
PLUS Markets Group plc. On 23 October 2006 the name Ofex ceased
to exist and the market became known as simply "PLUS".
In December 2006, PLUS successfully completed a Placing, raising £25
million, to fund further substantial extension of its trading and quotation
services, specifically to invest in regulatory and technical infrastructure, including:
- new trading technology, to facilitate trading between a wider range of market participants in a wider range of securities;
- new listing products following RIE status,
- expansion of trading services to allow investment firms to meet their execution, reporting and transparency needs under MiFID in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
As well as strengthening the balance sheet, the Board was also strengthened
with the appointment of four new Directors, to support executive operations
and to benefit from the non-executive expertise of two former directors of
the London Stock Exchange.
In 2007, PLUS was granted Recognised Investment Exchange (RIE) status by the
Financial Services Authority, making it a fully competitive UK-based stock
exchange, offering a deep pool of liquidity by supporting small order flow at
low transaction cost and able to offer a full range of trading and listing
solutions. RIE status is an internationally-recognised benchmark, opening
the market to those investors who prefer to execute their investment
business through an RIE.
PLUS launched, in record time for MiFID in November 2007, a new world class
trading platform. The new platform comprises X-Stream trading technology
from OMX which provides rich functionality, flexibility and capacity to
manage large transaction volumes - combined with a market surveillance
solution provided by SMARTS. The range of securities available for
trading on the PLUS market numbers some 7,500 including full coverage of
London-listed shares including the FTSE 100, European liquid shares and
unlisted shares quoted on the AIM and PLUS markets.
PLUS has been enjoying strong trading activity since the launch of the new
trading platform last year with bargains and volumes soaring to new highs.