SIX Swiss Exchange

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Swiss stock exchange

logo
legal form Corporation
founding May 17, 1995
Seat Zurich , SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland 
Number of employees 550 (December 31, 2019)
sales 506 million CHF (December 31, 2019)
Branch Exchanges
Website SIX

The SIX Swiss Exchange (formerly SWX Swiss Exchange ) is the largest Swiss exchange and was created in May 1995 through the merger of the three stock exchanges in Geneva , Basel and Zurich into the Swiss Securities Exchange Association , which is publicly known under the four official names Swiss Exchange ( German ), Bourse suisse ( French ), Borsa svizzera ( Italian ) and Swiss exchange ( English ). The most important share index of the SIX Swiss Exchange is the Swiss Market Index (SMI). The Swiss Exchange is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the SIX Group .

By resolution of the general assembly on April 23, 2002, the association was converted into a stock corporation in May 2002 and the headquarters were relocated to Selnaustrasse in the same year . At the end of June 2017, the company moved into the new headquarters in the Hard Turm Park on Pfingstweidstrasse in Zurich.

The market capitalization of all companies listed on the stock exchange amounted to 1643 billion US dollars in August 2017, making them one of the 20 largest stock exchanges in the world by market capitalization.

History of the Swiss Exchange

First Swiss stock exchanges (1850–1945)

Stock exchange in Basel
Stock exchange on Börsenstrasse in Zurich (around 1890)
Former "New Stock Exchange" Zurich (around 1930)

The first stock exchange on which the securities of corporations were traded was founded in Geneva in 1850 under the name Société des agents de change réunis . A ring stock exchange was also opened in Geneva in 1855 and was recognized by the Geneva State Council in 1856. The stock exchange in Basel , opened in 1876, was also under cantonal supervision, as was the stock exchange in Zurich , where the first trading with state approval took place in 1884. Four smaller stock exchanges specialized in trading regional stocks and were organized under private law. These included the Lausanne stock exchange founded in 1873 , as well as those of 1885 in Bern , 1905 in Neuchâtel and 1933 in St. Gallen . The cantons have imposed sales tax on the stock exchanges.

This development was stopped by the two world wars .

During the First World War , with the exception of bond trading in Geneva, the Swiss stock exchanges were closed for a long time. The post-war depression was followed by the high spirits of the 1920s. In Zurich is at this time on a new stock exchange building Bleicherweg 5 ( 47.36864 °  N , 8.53799 °  O ) built, which still stands today, but is no longer used as a stock exchange.

The banking crisis in the 1930s led to the Federal Banking Act and a stock exchange law was discussed in politics , but not yet introduced. The Swiss stock exchanges had to merge to form the Swiss Securities Exchange (VSE) in order to set up an admission office. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) and the Finance Department thus had the desired influence.

Post-war period (1946–1980)

After the Second World War there was a brokerage convention which standardized the bank fees for stock exchange transactions. In the mid-1950s, the stock exchanges reached record sales again, as in the years before and between the wars around 1929. This development lasted until the great crash of 1962, triggered by economic dampening measures, the New York crash and the Cuba crisis .

In 1962, a world first was introduced in Basel and Zurich with stock exchange television. The computer has already found its way into banks, and the stock market has been slow to follow suit. In 1964, Telekurs received an order from the Zurich stock exchange to examine the possibilities of IT for use on the stock exchange. However, it was not until the 1980s that the computer really made its way into the stock market. On December 8, 1995, electronic trading in foreign stocks was introduced, from August 2, 1996, electronic trading in Swiss stocks and options, and in bonds from August 16, with which ring trading was also discontinued. In 1991, a new, larger building was inaugurated on the Zurich Stock Exchange at Selnaustrasse 32, which, despite the fact that electronic trading will soon be moving in, takes up much less space than ring trading.

In the 1970s, deregulation began a fundamental change in the economy and thus in the stock exchange landscape, which continues to this day. Introduced in 1971 with the termination of the Bretton Woods Agreement (fixed exchange rates) by the Americans. The fluctuating exchange rates brought new risks to the economy and the need for hedging options followed. In response, financial derivatives were introduced. In 1973, the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) was created, which exclusively traded financial derivatives. With the oil crisis in 1974, the economy experienced the biggest post-war recession since 1931. The oil shock triggered such a rush for investment funds in Switzerland that there was talk of a stock exchange closure.

New Economy (1981-2003)

In 1995, the three Swiss stock exchanges Geneva, Basel and Zurich merged to form the SWX Swiss Exchange . On 15 August 1996, the ticker rang for the last time the ring trading from, ending an era that had lasted over a century.

After the international financial markets had overcome the Asian crisis in autumn / winter 1997/1998 and the Russian crisis in August / September 1998 , a bull market that lasted almost two years began at the beginning of October 1998. This was mainly driven by the new economy boom at the time . However, the Swiss stock market indices benefited only to a limited extent from this boom, as they are shaped by the heavyweights of the pharmaceutical, food and financial sectors, while Internet and technology companies only play a subordinate role. It was not until May 2000 that the Swiss Performance Index (SPI) reached the high of 5237 points it had reached before the outbreak of the Russian crisis. The SPI reached its preliminary high on August 23, 2000 at 5770 points. The bursting of the dot-com bubble dragged stock market prices down around the world, which also did not spare the Swiss stock indices. From its peak to its preliminary low on March 22, 2001, the SPI lost over 20 percent.

After a brief recovery phase, the SPI began to crumble again continuously from the end of May 2001. The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 accelerated this development, which had already begun with the bursting of the Internet bubble. However, the SPI only reached its lowest point of 2603 points a year and a half later, namely on March 12, 2003 at the height of the SARS epidemic and the Iraq crisis .

In 2000, the SWX Swiss Exchange set up the equity trading platform Virt-x, which is regulated by the British financial supervisory authority FSA (Financial Services Authority), for trading 32 Swiss standard values in London. The platform was opened on June 25, 2001. The main objectives were, on the one hand, to build a pan-European stock exchange and, on the other hand, to reduce the migration of trading volumes in SMI stocks to the London Stock Exchange.

Building of the “New Stock Exchange” Zurich

The listed companies were offered two different stock exchange segments for the SMI stocks: the EU Regulated Market segment and the UK Exchange Regulated segment. Both segments were subject to the regulations of the British Financial Market Authority (FSA), the EU segment was also subject to EU regulations.

Recent past (from 2004)

On April 30, 2007, the Swiss stock exchange and Deutsche Börse bought the US options exchange ISE. The takeover of International Securities Exchange Holdings (ISE) creates one of the largest trading venues for financial derivatives.

The price for the ISE options exchange was $ 2.8 billion. The German stock market took 85 percent and the Swiss stock exchange 15 percent of the purchase price. ISE's 2006 sales were approximately $ 178 million and profits were approximately $ 55 million. ISE remains independent and retains its structure and brand.

On January 1, 2007, the exchange for structured products operated jointly by SWX Swiss Exchange and Deutsche Börse started trading. The joint venture operated under the name Scoach.

The merger announced in May 2007 between the SWX Group , the SIS Group and the Telekurs Group to form a financial center holding company was completed at the beginning of 2008 with the establishment of SIX Group AG (initially Swiss Financial Market Services AG). The background to this merger was the increasing international competition among the financial centers, the increasing demands on the technical infrastructure, the rapidly changing customer needs and the increasing complexity of the regulatory requirements. The SIX brand was introduced in September 2008 and the SWX Swiss Exchange was renamed SIX Swiss Exchange .

As part of the merger, virt-x Exchange Limited , the London-domiciled subsidiary of the SWX Swiss Exchange , was renamed SWX Europe Limited . As of April 30, 2009, trading on SWX Europe was terminated and transferred to the SIX Swiss Exchange .

On May 4, 2009, trading in blue chip shares was moved back to the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich. The SIX Group explained this step mainly with cost considerations, an improved positioning in the stock market competition and the reduction in the complexity of the structures for the issuers .

In 2010, the SIX Swiss Exchange started trading in Exchange Traded Products (ETPs), thus expanding its range of trading segments to include secured debt claims, mainly in commodities.

Scoach, the joint venture with Deutsche Börse, was dissolved as a joint venture in 2013. The Swiss market for structured products has since been called SIX Structured Products.

Since then, SMI trading has only been subject to self-regulation by SIX Exchange Regulation and monitoring by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).

Framework agreement with the European Union

On November 30, 2018, the Federal Council issued an ordinance based on Art. 184 Para. 3 of the Federal Constitution. Accordingly, from 2019 onwards, Swiss shares will no longer be allowed to be traded in the EU . The reason for this is that the Swiss stock exchange regulation could no longer be recognized as equivalent by the EU from 2019 and, as a result, traders from the EU are no longer allowed to trade in Switzerland. On November 28, 2018, EU Vice Commission President Valdis Dombrovskis justified the possible non-recognition by the EU with a lack of progress in the negotiations on the EU-Switzerland framework agreement . The so-called stock exchange equivalence was extended by 6 months by the EU at the end of 2018, but it expired on July 1, 2019 due to further "lack of progress" with the framework agreement. In return, the Swiss Federal Council banned trading in Swiss shares on European stock exchanges, thereby protecting the Swiss stock exchange.

In November 2019, SIX announced that it wanted to take over the Madrid Stock Exchange ( Bolsas y Mercados Españoles, BME ) for 2.84 billion euros and move the operational clearing center there.

Ownership structure

SIX Group AG is owned by around 120 national and international financial institutions, which are also the main users of the services.

See also

  • BX Swiss , second, smaller Swiss exchange

literature

  • Richard T. Meier, Tobias Sigrist: The Swiss Big Bang. The history of the SWX Swiss Exchange . Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich 2006, ISBN 3-03823-251-3 .
  • Hans Bauer: The Basel Stock Exchange 1876-1976 . Birkhäuser Basel, 1976, ISBN 978-3-7643-0889-6 .
  • Emilio Albisetti et al .: Handbook of money, banking and stock exchange in Switzerland . Ott Verlag, Bern 1999, ISBN 3-7225-6328-3 .
  • Rolf M. Vogt: The Basel Stock Exchange: 1976-1996 . Stock Exchange Chamber of the Canton of Basel-Stadt, Basel 1997.

Web links

Commons : SIX Swiss Exchange  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. SIX Annual Report 2019
  2. [1] March 2020
  3. ^ The Worlds Stock Exchanges by Market Cap. Accessed March 7, 2018 (English).
  4. a b c d e f g Elisabeth Meyerhans: Stock exchanges. Historical Lexicon of Switzerland, August 19, 2004, accessed April 8, 2020 .
  5. Archived copy ( memento of the original dated June 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.six-swiss-exchange.com
  6. Urs Feller: “Questionable withdrawal of SIX from London”, Neue Zürcher Zeitung No. 278/2008, November 27, 2008, p. 33.
  7. Archived copy ( memento of the original dated June 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.six-swiss-exchange.com
  8. Matthias Benz: “Daring withdrawal of the Swiss stock exchange from London”, NZZ No. 265/2008, November 12, 2008, p. 28.
  9. Claudia Aebersold Szalay: “SMI stocks prefer EU segment in London”, NZZ No. 119/2008, May 24, 2008, p. 35.
  10. SWX Swiss Exchange becomes SIX Swiss Exchange - EXFEED is now called SIX Exfeed. Media release of September 30, 2008 (PDF; 30 kB).
  11. virt-x is now called SWX Europe (March 3, 2008) ( Memento of the original from December 30, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.six-group.com
  12. http://www.swxeurope.com/index.html
  13. Archived copy ( memento of the original dated June 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.six-swiss-exchange.com
  14. Federal Council enacts measures to protect the Swiss stock exchange infrastructure. Media release of November 30, 2018.
  15. Conflict with the EU: Federal Council protects the Swiss stock exchange with emergency law - what that means. In: watson.ch . November 30, 2018, accessed November 30, 2018 .
  16. Stock exchange equivalence: EU apparently wants to give Switzerland six months more time. In: finanzen.ch . December 11, 2018, accessed December 11, 2018 .
  17. ↑ In 2020 Switzerland will set its course for European policy. In: Bieler Tagblatt . December 29, 2019, archived from the original on December 30, 2019 .;
  18. Withdrawal of equivalence - EU sanctions against the Swiss stock exchange come to nothing. In: Swiss radio and television / SRF. August 2, 2019, accessed January 9, 2020 .
  19. «Plan B» from July 1st - Switzerland takes retaliatory measures against the EU. In: Swiss radio and television / SRF. June 27, 2019, accessed January 9, 2020 .
  20. Isabel Pfaff: SIX wants to take over the Spanish stock exchange. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . November 18, 2019, accessed January 9, 2020 .
  21. Finance and Economy: SIX plans for the time after the takeover of the Madrid Stock Exchange. December 2, 2019, accessed January 9, 2020 .
  22. Shareholder structure. ( Memento of the original from November 10, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. SIX Group, accessed on November 10, 2017. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.six-group.com

Coordinates: 47 ° 22 '16.1 "  N , 8 ° 31' 54.59"  E ; CH1903:  682568  /  247275