The integration of the Swiss stock exchange, CSD and market data businesses becomes effective from 1 January 2008.
The SWX Group, SIS Group and Telekurs Group will from this Tuesday be known as Swiss Financial Market Services AG (SFMS).
“With this step, the Swiss financial centre has created the conditions which, thanks to first-rate services in the areas of securities trading, clearing and settlement, payment transactions and market data, will strengthen its competitiveness and innovative power and maintain long-term Swiss sovereignty over the country’s financial market infrastructure,” said SFMS in a statement.
The merged companies say the reorganisation has created opportunities to offer new services as well as increase efficiency, and Swiss Financial Market Services is promising “quality, price and innovation in the services it renders.”
The new enterprise is owned solely by its users, with the aim of ensuring that customer interests are the focal point of all management decisions. The company adds that the ownership structure, which is cemented for the long term by a shareholders’ agreement, “ensures stability and reliability in the years to come. “
Prof. Dr. Peter Gomez, Chairman of the Board of SFMS, says the merger of the Swiss financial market infrastructure will foster “customer orientation and innovation, heightening efficiency, and contributing to the reinforcement of Switzerland as one of the world’s most important financial centres.”