The trading volume on the Bermuda Stock Exchange decreased to 1.42 million shares and the value of shares traded totalled $13.13 million for 2022, the BSX has reported.

The Royal Gazette/BSX Index closed the year at 2,317.69 (2021: 2,595.09), a decline of 10.7 per cent.

The BSX continued its support of the domestic capital market trading, operations and post-trade services for equities, government bonds and domestic corporate bonds.

Equity market capitalisation on the exchange totalled $166.05 billion at the end of 2022, with domestic bond market capitalisation reaching $4.78 billion.

Also at year-end 2022, the Bermuda Securities Depository, operated by the BSX, was custodian for 51 per cent (2021: 52 per cent) of total domestic-listed securities.

An important highlight of the year was the choice of the BSX to host the 2023 General Assembly of the World Federation of Exchanges, in Bermuda, this September.

Greg Wojciechowski, BSX president and chief executive, said: “We are honoured to host this event in 2023. It is an important meeting that attracts a global stock exchange audience from over 90 countries and will be an excellent opportunity to showcase Bermuda’s strength in commitment to financial services.”

The BSX celebrated its end-of-year results remaining the global leader in the listing of Insurance Linked Securities and had a record number of securities listed at year’s end.

The BSX recorded a 14 per cent growth in international debt listings with the exchange attracting its first Collateralised Loan Obligations.

While the exchange continues to also support Bermuda’s domestic capital market, Mr Wojciechowski characterised 2022 as another strong year for the organisation.

He noted: “It was a challenging year for markets globally but our core listing business remained steady. Overall listings stood at a record level of 1,337 at year end, an increase of 3 per cent.

“While international debt listing markets were slow in 2022, we managed to grow this segment by 14 per cent and attracted collateralised loan obligations as a new asset class for the first time.”

There was modest growth in the overall number of ILS-listed securities on the BSX, with the total number of listings increasing 2 per cent to 773 at year end (2021: 757), contributing to a year-end record number of listed securities of 1,337 (2021: 1,294).

The number of new ILS listings fell to 142 (2021: 281), reflecting the downturn in market activity. However, the overall nominal value of ILS-listed securities rose to $52.03 billion (2021: $50.97 billion).

Of the total ILS listings, 372 were securities providing catastrophic peril reinsurance coverage. The global issuance for that class was $37.92 billion, with BSX-listed ILS providing catastrophic peril reinsurance coverage having an outstanding value of $33.88 billion and representing 89.3 per cent of global issuance.

The international debt listings amounted to 252 securities listed at the end of 2022 (2021: 222).

The exchange said that the fact it achieved such growth in a slow market underpins its increasing importance as a recognised venue for international debt listings, with issuers originating from Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa.

The nominal value of the listings grew by $1.3 billion to $30.7 billion.