The collaborative undertaking will be conducted via a co-owned holding company based in Zurich, which will operate nationally regulated exchanges in Switzerland and Germany.
The companies already co-own the futures and options exchange, Eurex, as well as the European provider of security market indices, STOXX.
SWX will spin off its business in warrants and certificates into a new Swiss-based exchange, which will commence operation on 1 January 2007. In parallel, the holding company will found an exchange in Germany under the mantle of the Bremen Stock Exchange, which SWX acquired in 2005.
Both partners will own an equal financial interest in the holding company and contribute their respective business activities. The companies claim that because of the reliance on two strong pre-existing markets, the joint venture will be profitable right from the start.
The venture will start in late 2007 on separate trading systems and aims to be transferred to a common electronic-trading platform by 2009.
