On August 1, 2024, BNP Paribas and AXA announced that they entered into exclusive negotiations for the acquisition of AXA Investment Management (AXA IM) and a long-term partnership in asset management. Under the terms of the proposed transaction, AXA will receive overall cash proceeds of €5.4 billion. In addition, AXA and BNP Paribas would also enter into a long-term strategic partnership under which BNP Paribas would provide investment management services to AXA. The signing of the proposed transaction is expected by the end of the year, while the closing of the transaction is expected for mid-2025 after regulatory approval is

On April 11, 2000, the first two exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based on the EURO STOXX 50 and the STOXX Europe 50 were listed on Deutsche Boerse in Germany. With this listing, Merrill Lynch International brought a product to Europe which had been established in the U.S. since 1993. In addition to Germany, the trading of ETFs also began in Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.K. over the course of the year 2000. Even as the first reactions to these new products were positive, no one at that time really expected the future success that ETFs would experience. The following is a