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(Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez signed a new law into effect on Tuesday that formalizes the exclusion of private brokerages from trading the local bolivar currency or public sector dollar-denominated debt.
The new Capital Markets Bill, which had already been approved by parliament and only needed the president's signature, means private brokerages will only be able to trade local equities and securities issued by the private sector.
"With this we are leaving behind the rot of capitalism," Chavez said in a phone call to state television. "Venezuelans can now save, but not save in the rotten brokerages of the bourgeoisie that take the money to the United States."
Market players say the law would spell the end of private brokerages in a country where the bourse traded an average of less than $500,000 a day last year and there is almost no investment banking or initial public offerings.