Economy of Mexico banks”, bonded warehouses, bonding companies and foreign-exchange firms. A wave of acquisitions has left Mexico's financial sector in foreign hands. Their foreign-run affiliates compete with independent financial firms operating as commercial banks, brokerage and securities houses, insurance companies, retirement-fund administrators, mutual funds, and leasing companies. Mexico has a single securities market, the Mexican Stock Exchange (Bolsa Mexicana de Valores, known as the Bolsa). The market has grown steadily, with its main indices increasing by more than 600% in the last decade. It is Latin America's second largest exchange, after Brazil's. The total value of the domestic market capitalization of the
Bolsa de Valores de la República Dominicana operative and belong to banking institutions. Almost 75 percent of the securities transactions are cross transactions in which both the buyer and the seller are clients of the same brokerage house. In recent years various laws were approved in an attempt to give new life to the Dominican securities market. In 2000, the Securities Market Law (SML), Law 19-00, was enacted, creating the Superintendence of Securities ("Superintendencia de Valores", SIV) as the regulatory agency of the securities market. There are 24 securities brokers and there are no registered securities agents. There is one commodities exchange in the country, the "Bolsa