All Bell ceremonies

Gong marks exchange anniversary and exchange history website launch

Euronext Amsterdam and the Capital Amsterdam Foundation sound the gong to celebrate the 413^th birthday of share trading. To mark the anniversary the foundation launches a new website dedicated to the extraordinary history of the stock market in the Netherlands.

In March 1602 the Dutch East India Company (VOC) issued the world’s first tradable shares to the public, thus creating the world’s first stock market and making it possible for entrepreneurs to finance their activities via the public capital market. Richard Blickman, the CEO of BE Semiconductor Industries NV (Besi) opens trading and briefly explains the importance of the stock exchange for the growth of Besi.

For more information: www.stichtingcapitalamsterdam.com

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PSA Peugeot Citroën celebrates return to CAC 40 at Paris opening bell

PSA Peugeot Citroën is back in the Index, driven by first results of its rebuilding plan "Back in the Race".

The very first year of its plan, PSA Peugeot Citroën achieved ahead on its target 2 main objectives out of 3, by generating €2.2 billion in operating Free Cash Flow and becoming net debt free at the en of 2014.
To celebrate this come back, Jean-Baptiste de Chatillon, CFO of PSA Peugeot Citroën rang the bell marking the opening of trading on markets in Paris.

Royal Vopak celebrates inclusion in AEX-Index in anticipation of its 400th anniversary

Vice-chairman of the Executive Board and CFO of Royal Vopak (ticker symbol: VPK), Jack de Kreij, celebrates the inclusion of Royal Vopak in the AEX-Index® by sounding the gong.

De Kreij: “We see this inclusion in the AEX as an inspiring milestone in anticipation of our 400^th anniversary in 2016 and a recognition of all the effort, commitment and accomplishments of our colleagues worldwide.”

Royal Vopak is a tank storage provider for the oil and chemical industry. Vopak operates 78 terminals in 28 countries with a combined storage capacity of 33.5 million cbm, with another 6.2 million cbm under development, to be added by 2019. Vopak’s mission is to ensure safe, reliable and effective storage and handling of bulk liquid products at key marine locations that are critical to the customers around the world.

The AEX-Index is a free-float market capitalization weighted index that reflects the performance of the 25 largest shares listed on Euronext Amsterdam, and is the most widely used indicator of the Dutch stock market. The index serves as a basis for more than 2,000 products, such as; structured products, exchange traded funds, options and futures. The inclusion of Royal Vopak will be effective from Monday 23 March 2015.

For more information: www.vopak.com

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CFO celebrates 250th anniversary Wessanen

CFO and member of the Executive Board, Ronald Merckx, sounds the gong to celebrate the memorable moment of 250 years Wessanen (ticker symbol: WES).

Two-hundred-and-fifty years ago, on 22March, Wessanen started its operations in the Zaan area in The Netherlands. Ever since, Wessanen has been involved in food, bringing customers and consumers innovative products. Today Wessanen is proud to be a focused brand builder in healthy and sustainable food in Europe. This is also what Wessanen stands for: making food that is good for people and planet, by focusing on organic, fair trade, vegetarian and good nutrition.

For more information: www.wessanen.com

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Rabobank Foundation marks World Down Syndrome Day

Rabobank Foundation, the Rabobank’s social fund, and ZOdIEZiJN foundation sound the gong and open trading in honour of World Down Syndrome Day.

World Down Syndrome Day, takes place on Saturday 21 March, and in honour of the occasion, Rabobank Foundation and ZOdIEZiJN are launching a new web shop: mooidoormij.nl. Both parties invest in making people self-reliant, and together they make it possible for people with a mental handicap to work in subsidised workshops at care institutions throughout the Netherlands, and therefore to be gainfully employed. The workshops produce original, sustainable products in cooperation with Dutch designers, which are developed under the label ‘Mooi door mij’. All of the people who are employed in the workshops are proud of their work, and of being able to contribute to society. The products will be available in the web shop from 19 March. Bono Kloek, who makes ‘Mooi door mij’ products, sounds the gong.

For more information: Rabobankbank Foundation

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CADES rings the bell to celebrate their bond issuance in RMB

Patrice Ract Madoux, Chairman of CADES, closes the trading day in Paris to celebrate the listing of their bond issuance in RMB

Created in 1996, CADES (Caisse d'Amortissement de la Dette Sociale)  is an administrative public body owned and controlled by the French State. Its mission is to amortise the French social debt. To successfuly achieve its mission entrusted by French Parliament, CADES has the possibility to issue tradable debt securities. The outstanding success of this transaction underlines the confidence that international investors have in CADES, one of the first European issuer. They particularly appreciate the solidity of the French social debt amortization mechanism, as well as the quality of the resource that is collected among the population under the supervision of the French Parliament and the Constitutional Council. Since its establishment, CADES has amortised a total of €84.1 billion of French social debt on a total of €216.7 billion assumed since inception. This reduction in the French public debt is equivalent in amount to 4 percentage points of 2013 GDP. When the interest saving on the amortised debt is taken into account, the reduction equates to more than 5 per cent of GDP.

RegionPlus foundation sounds gong for National Week of Health & Welfare

RegionPlus foundation sounds the gong on the occasion of National Week of Health & Welfare, held from 16-21 March. The National Week of Health and Welfare is an initiative of the 16 regional employers' organizations in health and welfare, united in the RegionPlus foundation.

This year’s edition is the third and revolves around the theme ‘How care works’. Hundreds of organizations across the country open their doors to the public to demonstrate the  operation of a shelter or care home, the use of advanced techniques in a hospital, and how enjoyable, challenging and important this line of work is. New this year is a daily TV program on SBS 6 titled "The Nation Cares'. YouTube star KOOLEIN, who plays a major role in the program, sounds the gong.

For more information: www.weekvanzorgenwelzijn.nl 

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Gong marks BioCapital Europe

Partner at Life Sciences Partners (LSCP) and conference host, John de Koning, sounds the gong to mark the event BioCapital Europe 2015.

BioCapital Europe, which is organized by LSP, takes place on Thursday 26 March 2015 at the historic hotel Sofitel Legend The Grand Amsterdam. BioCapital Europe is Europe's premier life sciences investment conference, offering venture capitalists and institutional investors access to around forty exciting biotech companies from the Benelux and Europe.

For more information: www.biocapitaleurope.com

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Fugro and NWP opening trading to mark World Water Day

Fugro and the Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP) sound the gong to mark World Water Day. Theme of World Water Day 2015 is ‘Water and Sustainable Development’.

Within this theme young water engineers of Fugro (ticker symbol: FUR) developed GeoRiskPortal, a socio-technological innovation. Using smart sensors and data visualization, the behaviour of the soil and flood risks are made transparent. The outcome of the measurements supports governments, contractors and industrial companies in making informed decisions to protect sensitive areas worldwide (Risk Reduction).

In 1992, theUnited Nations (UN) proclaimed March 22 as World Water Day. Each member of the UN has committed itself to use this day to create awareness among the general public and industry partners on the national and global water problems by organizing activities that fit within the national context. In 2015, this day will be held on Friday, 20 March. NWP, who organizes the World Water Day Netherlands together with Aqua for All, has been working for 15 years in the international position of the Dutch water sector. Consultant Flood Control at Fugro, Remon Pot and CEO NWP, Lennart Silvis, sound the gong.

For more information: www.fugro.nl and www.nwp.nl

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CFO NN Group celebrates inclusion in the AEX-Index

CFO of NN Group (symbol: NN), Delfin Rueda, celebrates the inclusion of NN Group in the AEX-Index® by sounding the gong.

CEO Lard Friese:"The inclusion of NN Group in the AEX-Index represents another important milestone for our company and will increase our visibility in the market. Going forward, we will continue to keep a sharp eye on our strategic direction, and a clear focus on executing our strategy to achieve our objectives of generating capital and improving earnings, while delivering excellent service and products to our customers."

The AEX-Index is a free-float market capitalization weighted index that reflects the performance of the 25 largest shares listed on Euronext Amsterdam, and is the most widely used indicator of the Dutch stock market. The index serves as a basis for more than 2,000 products, such as; structured products, funds, exchange traded funds, options and futures. The inclusion of NN Group will be effective from Monday 23 March 2015.

Furthermore, on this national day of back luck, there is attention for the action #waterookgebeurt. Today anyone who shares his or her bad luck on Twitter or Facebook with the hashtag #waterookgebeurt can count on the help of the claims managers of Nationale-Nederlanden.

For more information: www.nn-group.com

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Gong ceremony marks 2015 World Kidney Day

The Kidney Patients Association of the Netherlands sounds the gong to mark the start of the 2015 World Kidney Day, and the launch of a new book of photographs highlighting kidney patients.

World Kidney Day (WKD) is an annual event that aims to focus attention on the importance of healthy kidneys. This year’s theme is “Take good care of you kidneys. Know your values!”. Special attention will be given to people with diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and clogged arteries, all of whom have an increased risk of developing kidney disease. The first copy of the new book will be presented during the gong ceremony. The book was compiled by photographer Marja Poldermans, whose own daughter suffers from kidney disease. It portrays fifteen young kidney patients; in the interviews that accompany the photos, these young people talk about living with kidney disease.

For more information: www.worldkidneyday.nl

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Celebrating Global Money Week with Vlerick Business School

Global Money Week is an international money awareness celebration which takes place in the second week of March annually. Global Money Week engages children worldwide in learning how money works, including saving, creating livelihoods, gaining employment and entrepreneurship. Global Money Week is an initiative of Child and Youth Finance International (CYFI).

Therefore Maureen Nova Ledesma of the Vlerick Business School rang the Opening Bell in Brussels on 11 March 2015 in the presence of Rens van den Broek of CYFI. Associations and companies like Mastercard, WSBI and Ashoka were also present.

The Bell Ceremony was followed by a presentation for the students of Vlerick Business School by Vincent Van Dessel, Chairman and CEO Euronext Brussels.

For more information, please visit : Global Money Week : globalmoneyweek.org
Child & Youth Finance International : childfinanceinternational.org

Child & Youth Finance International marks Global Money Week 2015

Global Money Week is an international money awareness event which takes place annually in the second week of March. Global Money Week engages children worldwide in learning how money works, including saving, creating livelihoods, gaining employment, and entrepreneurship.

Global Money Week is an initiative of Child & Youth Finance International (CYFI) an internationally charity working out of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to increase the economic citizenship of children. By working closely with national authorities, global multi-laterals, civil society leaders and financial service providers ,CYFI will ensure that 100 million children and youth in 100 countries will be reached through high quality financial education by the end of 2015. To date 36 million young people in 125 countries have been reached through this ‘Child and Youth Finance Movement’, with the endorsement and support of the European Parliament, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), G20 Turkish Presidency and the United Nations.

For more information: www.globalmoneyweek.org and www.childfinanceinternational.org

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New Delta Lloyd CEO rings Brussels opening bell

Hans van der Noordaa opened on 10 March 2015 the European markets as the new CEO of Delta Lloyd.

As from 1 January 2015 is Hans van der Noordaa appointed as new Chairman of Delta Lloyd’s Executive Board. Hans van der Noordaa will succeed Niek Hoek in his function. Niek Hoek will retire on 30 June 2015 after having served on Delta Lloyd’s Executive Board for 18 years, including 14 years as chairman.

Delta Lloyd is listed at Euronext Amsterdam and Euronext Brussels with the ticker DL.

If you would like to find out more about Delta Lloyd : www.deltalloydgroep.com

Five years of financial literacy for Dutch youth with LEF foundation

By sounding the gong the Life and Finance (LEF) Foundation celebrates her 5^th anniversary.

Together with the financial industry, LEF developed a curriculum which teaches youngsters between 15-22 years age how to spend money in a responsible way. LEF has already helped more than 8,000 young people in dealing with the opportunities and risks of money. The initiative is made possible through the support of partners including BNP Paribas, De Lage Landen, Novisource, Everest, Yellowtail, Hemels van der Hart, Nationale Hypotheek Garantie, Dukers & Baelemans and Welten. Managing director Gijs Wintzen, sounds the gong.

For more information: www.lefnet.nl

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Dutch banks sound gong for Money Week

By sounding the gong Dutch banks ask attention for the Week van het Geld (Money Week) and the initiative "Bank voor de klas” (banks in the classroom).

Money Week  is an initiative of more than 40 organizations working together to learn children how money works.  Dutch banks and the Dutch Banking Association (NVB) consider it important to learn children how to deal with money. That's why, this year, 4500 financial guest lectures at 2000 schools are given in the “Bank voor de klas" program, one of the components of the Money Week. Participating banks are ABN AMRO, Achmea Bank, ASR Bank, BNG Bank, Delta Lloyd Bank, ING, NIBC, NWB Bank, Rabobank, SNS, Staalbankiers, Theodoor Gilissen, Triodos Bank and Van Lanschot. Chairman of the NVB, Eelco Dubbeling, opens trading.

For more information:www.bankvoordeklas.nl

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Euronext celebrates International Women’s Day

In Lisbon, the bell was rang by Teresa Morais, Secretary of State of Parliamentary Affairs and Equality, during a conference organized by Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality.

International Women’s Day with EU Commissioner Marianne Thyssen

On 6 March 2015, Euronext celebrated International Women’s Day with Global Bell Ringings on all its locations : Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon and Paris.

In Brussels Marianne Thyssen, EU Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs opened the trading day together with other female leaders and senior executives representing different companies, clients and associations.