Retail demand
Retail demand in Europe for privatized state assets is looking good. The Italian public snapped up half of the €4.1 billion placement of Enel shares sold by the Italian government on July 4. Some 657,000 retail investors bought into the deal, far more than the number who bought shares in the Italian electricity company when the government sold a €7.6 billion tranche last August.
Public demand for shares in Gaz de France was also stronger than expected. Despite the political unpopularity of the French government's privatization programme, retail investors were enthusiastic, buying half of the €4 billion IPO. Bookrunners had expected to allocate just 30% of the deal to retail but the 3.3 million orders they received convinced them to increase the slice.
The month in numbers
223 million – the amount in dollars that Taiwanese brokerage Fubon Securities had to spend correcting a misplaced order for a client. The trader who placed the order was unfamiliar with new trading software.
0.47 – the percentage rise in the shares of Fubon Financial Holdings, the parent company of Fubon Securities, on the day the mistake was announced. Investors were pleased by the way the company handled the mistake, holding on to the stocks and not just selling immediately.