Earlier this month the Athens Stock Exchange (ATHEX) issued a statement inviting mutual fund companies to apply to be the issuer of the exchange's first exchange-traded fund (ETF). The ETF would be based on the FTSE/ATHEX 20 Index which includes the 20 largest companies by market capitalization on the Athens exchange.  

The application period began September 13 and will run until October 12, and FTSE and ATHEX will make the final decision on an issuer for the ETF together. Applicant firms will be evaluated based on such areas as promotional planning and budgeting, interest in creating further ETFs, distribution network, the management team and the trustees.

The exchange says that it expects a product to be on the market by the end of 2007.

FTSE currently calculates and maintains the Athens Stock Exchange's index family. However, in the index provider's most recent country classification review for its own global index series, Greece remained on the watch list for possible demotion to an Advanced Emerging Market designation during the next country review in 2008. (Read more about the country classification review here.) Greece fails to meet several of FTSE's criteria for developed market status, and FTSE has said it is working with regulatory authorities in the country to reach a solution. Meanwhile, ATHEX Chairman Spyros Capralos issued a statement that new legislation going into effect at the start of November would resolve some of the issues and that "every possible measure" was being taken to avert the potential demotion.