The Vienna Stock Exchange (Wiener Brse AG) works to create a single trading platform for bourses in Budapest, Ljubljana, Prague and Vienna.
Also Wiener Brse showed an interest in co-operating or buying a stake in the Warsaw exchange. The Bucharest, Sofia, Belgrade and Zagreb stock exchanges are also expected to be members of such a group. The Vienna bourse is in principle ready to purchase stakes in all of them.It has purchased stakes in exchanges this year in Ljubljana, Budapest and Prague to form an alliance.
Deutsche Brse’s Xetra currently used by the Vienna exchange is most likely to be common trading system for new project. If the Wiener Brse starts realisation of the project in 2009, the merger may begin in 2010 at the earliest.
The set up of one trading system for all four exchanges will bring profit to local private investors, given that apart from the locally listed shares, the exchanges in Vienna, Ljubljana and Prague will be accessible directly from them. International players (funds, hedge funds, investment banks, etc.) will be able to trade on the Budapest Stock Exchange directly.
L.D.