Frozen out of the European Union trading market, the Swiss stock exchange has turned to a new source of business: the indirect listing of Chinese company shares. But despite 14 Chinese companies raising some CHF4.4 billion ($4.9 billion) by listing Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) on the Swiss exchange in the last 12 months, the scheme has yet to prove a money spinner for Switzerland. For SIX Group, which runs Switzerland’s largest stock exchange, the arrival of Chinese companies could provide a welcome boost to trading revenues. In 2019, the exchange was banned from trading European Union company shares following a diplomatic impasse between Switzerland and the EU. + Why more Chinese firms will come to Switzerland To get around differences in the financial regulations of each country, SIX allows Chinese firms to list GDRs - which are certificates that represent shares of a company that can be converted into its stock following a 120-day lock-in period. The idea is that...
