IT MAY have benefited from a world-leading bank guarantee but, despite the government's banking bailout, the Iseq remains a minnow compared to second-tier markets in Africa such as the Nigerian, Egyptian, and South African stock exchanges.

The Iseq, which has fallen by 43% since the start of this year and has recently been trading at its lowest level in six years, also lags many Middle Eastern exchanges.

These include Israel's Tel Aviv stock exchange, the UAE's Dubai stock exchange and the Saudi stock exchange. Exchanges in South American countries such as Colombia and Chile are also larger.

Benchmarked against the world's leading exchanges, the Iseq's position seems even more humble, particularly as many large multinationals have market capitalisations that dwarf our exchange.

Coca-Cola is around three times the size of the Iseq; Volkswagen, 41% larger, could buy the entire exchange and have change left over.