SIX Swiss Exchange, Switzerland’s national stock exchange, has completed the transfer of trading in Swiss blue-chip stocks to its main exchange in Zurich from SWX Europe, its London-based trading platform. The 32 stocks that were traded on SWX Europe began trading today in the newly-created Swiss Blue Chip Segment of SIX Swiss Exchange.
SIX announced in November that it would be closing SWX Europe and migrating the trading of Swiss blue-chip stocks to Switzerland. The exchange said the move will lower costs and strengthen its competitive position. It added that the shift would result in technical and administrative benefits for trading participants and reduced complexity for issuers.
SIX launched SWX Europe, originally called virt-x, in London in 2001 and transferred all trading of Swiss blue-chip stocks to the platform. The exchange wanted to trade the stocks in London because it felt that the stamp duty imposed on share-trading in Switzerland at the time put it at a competitive disadvantage to other European exchanges.
Lee Hodgkinson, former CEO of SWX Europe, became CEO of SmartPool, exchange group NYSE Euronext’s non-displayed multilateral trading facility, on 1 May.