The SWX Group and Deutsche Brse AG will combine their trades in structured products as planned on 1 January 2007. The Supervisory Board of Deutsche Brse and the federal cartel office (Bundeskartellamt) have already given their approval.
Contrary to previous announcements, the new company will initially use the introduced trademark “Brse Frankfurt Smart Trading” for the German market and “SWX Quotematch” for the Swiss market. This will avoid usage problems in Europe relating to the delineation of the name that was originally chosen.
The new company unites the strength of the SWX Group and Deutsche Brse AG in a market segment with considerable growth potential and will establish a new market standard. In a first step, the joint venture will become the parent of a new exchange to which the SWX will outsource its business in warrants and structured products. The new company will also become a partial owner of the warrant-certificate and certificate trades at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. In the medium term, trading on the two exchanges will migrate to a joint technology platform.
The new company will be domiciled in Luxembourg and have subsidiaries in Germany and Switzerland. Its objective is to become the leading European exchange for the market segment of structured products.