Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) has faced its toughest 12 months in history, as major companies have registered losses worth over 70 percent and no issuer closed the year in the black, Business Standard reported.

In 2008, 26 companies have lost over 80 percent of their value. The list includes names such as brokerage company Broker Cluj (-96.6 percent), Real estate developer Impact (-93.7 percent), and the financial investment companies (SIF), which lost 84 percent.

"2008 has been an extremely difficult year, very stressful; we had to face clients, to explain to them how to maintain a balanced portfolio in time of crisis," said the Trading Manager of the Estinvest brokerage company, Marcel Murgoci.

BVB ranks fourth among the sharpest stock exchange drops in Europe, while Iceland, where companies lost 94.5 percent, tops the ranking.

The only solution for the local brokers seems to come from foreign markets, which have also brought the crisis. "The real reaction of the Stock Exchange to the economic turmoil which will also affects Romania will only be visible in 2009," Murgoci added.