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Finance: NASDAQ eyes up Shanghai

By Yuan Yuan (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-10-21 14:11

Nasdaq billboard in this photo taken on January 23, 2008 in New York. NASDAQ OMX Group, the largest global exchange company, is seeking a listing on the Shanghai bourse, the company's top management said yesterday. [Reuters]

NASDAQ OMX Group, the largest global exchange company, is seeking a listing on the Shanghai bourse, the company's top management said yesterday.

"We are contacting the China Securities Regulatory Commission and Shanghai Stock Exchange for a listing," said Eric D. Landheer, head of Asia-Pacific at NASDAQ OMX Group. "And our commitments will continue despite the market turmoil."

Besides controlling and operating the NASDAQ stock exchange - the second largest in the United States, NASDAQ OMX Group also operates eight stock exchanges in Europe and has a one-third stake in the Dubai Stock Exchange.

The exact nature and timing of the listing remain under discussion, Landheer said. The CEO of NYSE Euronext, parent of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), said in April that the company is eyeing a listing in China.

Market sources said that the Shanghai exchange is studying the feasibility of attracting major foreign companies to list on the domestic market.

But getting listed on the Chinese mainland is never an easy move for multinational companies, experts said.

"To make such listings feasible, the domestic capital market needs a package of supportive measures in terms of regulations, the accounting system and the exchange rate regime," said an analyst with CITIC China Securities.

Due to the fast-expanding global financial crisis, the number of initial public offerings on the NASDAQ dropped from 154 last year to 23 so far this year, among which three are from China.