Zurich bourse shrugs off merger of competitors

The Swiss Stock Exchange (SWX) says that the three-way merger between the Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels stock exchanges announced Monday will not affect its plans to create a pan-European bourse.

The Swiss Stock Exchange (SWX) says that the three-way merger between the Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels stock exchanges announced Monday will not affect its plans to create a pan-European bourse.

“The process of consolidation is only in its infancy,” says Ettore Candolfi, SWX spokesman in Zurich. The Swiss exchange has been negotiating for months not only with Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris, but also Frankfurt, London, Madrid and Milan.

The negotiations are aimed at establishing a uniform platform and defining one set of common rules and regulations. It aims to benefit issuers, investors and market participants.

Candolfi said the three-way merger would help simplify the discussions because there would be fewer opinions represented. He added that it would probably accelerate talks. However, a decision is not expected before November.

The spokesman added that Paris and Brussels already had the same platform but the arrival of Amsterdam constituted something of a surprise because the Netherlands had been “very active” in negotiations to create a pan-European bourse.

In March last year, the Italian, French and Swiss exchanges announced they had signed a partnership agreement as an integral part of building the pan-European bourse.

Under the terms of the accord, members of each exchange qualified for membership of the other two and further links helped facilitate trading in French, Italian and Swiss equities and bonds.

swissinfo with agencies