Mercado Abierto Electrónico

What Mercado Abierto Electrónico does

Mercado Abierto Electrónico (MAE) is a private, CNV-regulated Argentine electronic securities market founded in 1989, headquartered in Rosario (Paraguay 777) with a Buenos Aires office (Maipú 1210). It operates the country's largest electronic trading platform for cash fixed-income and equity instruments, processing ARS 26.7 trillion in daily operations and ARS 2.44 quadrillion in annual trading volume. Its members include banks, financial institutions, ALyC (settlement and clearing agents), the BCRA (central bank), and the Argentine Treasury. Following its November 2024 merger announcement with Matba Rofex (effective March 1, 2025), the combined entity operates as A3 Mercados S.A.

MAE's core technology stack is built around two proprietary platforms: SIOPEL, the electronic trading engine for cash market instruments, and MAEClear, the post-trade clearing and settlement system. The platform achieved Qualified Central Counterparty (QCCP) status in June 2024, formally enabling central counterparty clearing services. In January 2024, MAE launched APIs MAE, providing programmatic access for member institutions, and integrated the BCRA's MOME currency exchange into MAEClear. In May 2024, MAEClear was used to liquidate CAM1 (Argentine Clearing and Settlement Agent) operations, extending its post-trade infrastructure footprint.

MAE's revenue model is a multi-stream infrastructure fee model: transaction/trading fees tied to volume, membership fees from member institutions, listing fees for new instruments, and clearing/settlement fees through MAEClear. The business monetizes the network of regulated participants, the volume of instruments traded and cleared, and the regulatory role it plays as core Argentine capital-market infrastructure. FY2024 revenue was ARS 43.5 billion (~$40-43M USD at late-2024 rates), with net equity of ARS 76.8 billion and liquid assets of ARS 109.6 billion as of December 2024.

Name

Mercado Abierto Electrónico

Legal name

A3 Mercados S.A.

Website

https://mae.com.ar

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Mercado Abierto Electrónico is a CNV-regulated Argentine electronic securities market operating the SIOPEL trading platform and MAEClear clearing/settlement system, serving banks, ALyC institutions, BCRA, and the Argentine Treasury. (37 words)

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Maipu

HQ country

Argentina

HQ region

Latin America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Transaction and Trading Fees: Charges based on trading volume and value of securities traded. Fees vary by instrument type (fixed income, equities, letters, repos, derivatives, forex) and negotiation segment (bilateral vs guaranteed). Specific percentage rates apply to negotiated and settled amounts.
2. Membership Fees: Annual membership fees charged to agents (Miembros MAE) for access to trading platforms and market infrastructure. Different tiers exist for full membership and primary market-only access.
3. Listing and Primary Market Fees: Fees for listing securities in primary market placements through SIOPEL system, including placement primary fees and issuance support services.
4. Clearing and Settlement Services: Fees for post-trade clearing, compensation, and settlement services through MAEClear, including guarantee administration and margin management.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Mercado Abierto Electrónico (MAE) operates an electronic securities and foreign exchange market in Argentina, providing trading, clearing, and settlement infrastructure for fixed income, equities, futures, repos, and forex. It runs two negotiation segments—guaranteed (with MAE as central counterparty) and bilateral—along with primary market placements, post-trade clearing via MAEClear, and APIs for automated market access.

Product overview

Mercado Abierto Electrónico (MAE) is an Argentine electronic financial market providing a comprehensive trading infrastructure through its core SIOPEL platform and MAEClear clearing system. The platform operates two main negotiation segments: Guaranteed (with MAE as central counterparty) and Bilateral (without guarantee), covering equities, fixed income, futures, repos, and foreign exchange. Supporting services include the Trade Repository for OTC derivatives, Post Trade settlement with DVP guarantee, FONDEX for external settlement, and APIs for automated trading and market data. Following the November 2024 merger with Matba Rofex, the combined entity operates under the A3 brand.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SIOPEL Trading Platform Electronic trading platform for negotiation of securities, futures, and primary placements, supporting Price/Time Priority (PPT) blind negotiations across bilateral and guaranteed market segments. Used by CNV-registered member agents (AN, ALyC, ACVN) to trade fixed income, equities, repos, and derivatives in Argentina.
• MAEClear Clearing and Settlement Central counterparty clearing and settlement system that performs multilateral netting, administers unified guarantees, and ensures Delivery-vs-Payment (DvP) settlement for guaranteed segment operations. Used by ALyC and member agents for post-trade processing.
• FOREX Mercado de Divisas Electronic wholesale foreign exchange market in Argentina operating across multiple currencies with spot, 24-hour, and 48-hour settlement. Includes CAM1 (wholesale, ≥USD 500K), CAM2 (retail), CAM5, MOME, and MOMX segments, with simultaneous buy/sell T+0 bonuses available.
• Primary Placements System (Colocaciones Primarias) Primary market placement system allowing any intermediary to participate in public and private securities placement processes through SIOPEL, supporting auctions, bookbuilding, and adjudication. PYME ON CNV Guaranteed, social/green/sustainable bonds, and low/medium impact notes receive 100% negotiation fee waivers.
• Guaranteed Negotiation (Negociación Garantizada) Trading segment where MAE acts as central counterparty for all operations, providing liquidity, efficient capital use, and 100% guarantee of operations through unified guarantees. Used by member agents for trading fixed income, equities, repos, and derivatives.
• REPOS-MAE Pass/buy-sell agreements combining spot transactions with simultaneous reverse operations for future settlement, including fixed and variable rate peso- and dollar-denominated repos. Fees: 0.0001% bilateral, 0.0007% guaranteed, 0.0003% settlement; cauctions at 0.0450% guaranteed.
• Cauciones Garantizadas (Guaranteed Cauctions) Guaranteed short-term firm operation with market guarantee where A3 acts as central counterparty guaranteeing 100% of operations. Available in pesos and dollars, offering investors short-term secured returns and borrowers financing using securities as collateral.
• OCT MAE (Operaciones Compensadas a Término) Term compensation operations without physical delivery of underlying assets, where MAE administers guarantees and calculates daily MTM (mark-to-market) for settlement of price differences. Used by member agents for derivative positions.
• Trade Repository (TR) Platform for registration of OTC derivative contracts and bilateral repos negotiated outside MAE's trading environment, providing automated regulatory reporting to AFIP and CNV. Used by financial institutions for OTC derivative compliance and reporting.
• APIs MAE Suite of APIs including API TRD for real-time operation registration, API Cauciones for cauctions details, API Valoración de Garantías for guarantee quotations, API Operaciones for historical data, API Comitentes for client management, API Auditoría de Ofertas for offer audit trails, API Títulos for negotiable securities data, API Índices for index data (RIX, UVA, A3500, CER), and API Resumen final for fixed income closing prices. Used by MAE Agents for automated trading and back-office integration.
• Market Data Portal and Boletín Diario Market data portal providing real-time and historical trading information, daily bulletins, reference prices for REPO and READ wheels, agent rankings, and official market statistics. Available to members and Market Data API users.
• Market Maker Programs (Dollar Futures and Fixed Income) Market maker programs for dollar futures and fixed income securities providing liquidity to specific market segments. Available to qualifying member agents who commit to two-sided quoting obligations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Processing of approximately ARS 26.7 trillion in daily operations (based on June 2026 bulletin)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Matba Rofex S.A.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 November 2024On November 20, 2024, MAE and Matba Rofex completed their merger to form A3 Mercados S.A. The merger received unanimous approval from shareholder assemblies and was effective March 1, 2025. Share exchange ratio: 0.246163 MTR shares for each MAE share. This creates the largest unified capital market infrastructure in Argentina.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Bolsa de Santiago (Santiago Exchange): Chilean securities exchange operating cash equities, fixed income, and post-trade services. Comparable as a Latin American regulated securities market with similar regulatory and clearing functions.
• Bolsa Mexicana de Valores (BMV): Mexico's principal securities exchange operating equities, debt, and derivatives trading and post-trade. Comparable as a Latin American multi-asset market infrastructure operator with regulatory-driven membership model.
• B3 (Brasil, Bolsa, Balcão): Brazil's integrated exchange, clearinghouse, and market infrastructure operator and the largest in Latin America. Comparable as a multi-asset exchange and CCP serving a major regional capital market.

Direct peers

• Matba Rofex (now A3 Mercados): Argentine futures exchange that merged with MAE effective March 1, 2025 to form A3. The closest historical peer in derivatives and clearing, now the combined platform's other half.
• Bolsas y Mercados Argentinos (BYMA): Argentina's principal equities exchange and market infrastructure operator. Direct competitor across equities, fixed income primary placements, and post-trade, with reciprocal 'signo contrario' settlement integration already in place with MAE.

Broad incumbents

• Deutsche Börse: German exchange operator running Xetra cash equities, Eurex derivatives, and Clearstream post-trade. Comparable as a multi-asset exchange with integrated CCP and post-trade—closely analogous to A3's combined MAE + Matba Rofex structure.
• Intercontinental Exchange (ICE): Operator of global exchanges and clearinghouses across asset classes, including fixed income, equities, and derivatives. Directly comparable as a vertically integrated exchange + clearing utility with data and listing services.
• CME Group: Global derivatives exchange and clearing operator. Most relevant global incumbent comparable for A3's derivatives CCP and guarantee system (MAEClear/Cauciones/Repos).
• Nasdaq, Inc. Global exchange operator and market technology provider. Comparable as a broad incumbent in cash equities trading and exchange-listed products, with similar technology-licensing adjacency.
• Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX): Operator of Hong Kong's securities and derivatives markets and post-trade clearing. Comparable as an integrated multi-asset exchange and clearing utility serving a capital-market-oriented economy.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/mae_arg
• Facebookfacebook.com/mercadoabiertoelectronico
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mae-mercado-abierto-electr-nico-s.a.

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mercado Abierto Electrónico