Several Chinese enterprises, including Sany Heavy Industry Co.Ltd(600031) , Lepu Medical Technology (Beijing) Co.Ltd(300003) have recently announced plans to list on the Swiss stock exchange. Consistent with the previous way of Huatai Securities Co.Ltd(601688) , China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co.Ltd(601601) etc. landing on the London Stock Exchange, the above-mentioned enterprises will log on to the Swiss stock exchange by issuing global Depositary Receipts (GDR).
In February this year, in order to further facilitate cross-border investment and financing, promote the global allocation of factor resources, and promote the institutional opening of the capital market, the CSRC revised and issued the regulations on the supervision of interconnected depositary receipts business of domestic and foreign stock exchanges on the basis of the Shanghai Luntong rules.
The first is to expand the scope of application, including qualified listed companies of Shenzhen Stock Exchange in the domestic aspect, and expand to Switzerland and Germany in the overseas aspect; Second, allow overseas basic securities issuers to raise funds and adopt market-oriented inquiry mechanism for pricing; Third, optimize the continuous supervision arrangements, and make more optimized and flexible institutional arrangements for the continuous supervision of the disclosure contents of annual reports and the disclosure obligations of equity changes.
In an exclusive interview with first finance, Jos dijsselhof, chief executive of the Swiss stock exchange, revealed that the first Chinese enterprise is expected to be listed in Switzerland in the second half of this year. He said he was not worried about the recent volatility of China concept shares, and believed that Switzerland might be a better choice for Chinese enterprises to list overseas than the United States.
The Swiss stock exchange in Zurich, the third largest stock exchange in Europe, was established in 1993. As of August 2020, the circulation market value of listed companies on the Swiss stock exchange was CHF 1.5 trillion, about RMB 10.24 trillion. Well known enterprises listed on the Swiss stock exchange include food and beverage giant Nestle, financial institutions UBS and Swiss Re, pharmaceutical companies Roche and Novartis, etcp align=”center”>
first finance: what preparations have the two sides made for the listing of Chinese enterprises on the Swiss stock exchange
dieselhoff : the Swiss stock exchange has established contact with Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen stock exchange for many years. In 2019, we signed a memorandum of understanding to ensure our cooperation on the basis of mutual understanding, which is also the starting point of the concept of connectivity between China and Switzerland.
In this way, we began to explore the establishment of a mechanism similar to the “Shanghai London Stock connect” between China and Switzerland, promote and make progress step by step, and ensure the mutual recognition of the rules of both sides. By February this year, the CSRC had issued the provisions on the supervision of the interconnection of depositary receipts business between domestic and foreign stock exchanges. At present, we are ensuring that everything is carried out in an orderly manner, and then it can be officially launched.
first finance and Economics: the Swiss Exchange is well-known in Europe, but not in China. What can the Swiss stock exchange bring to listed Chinese enterprises
dieselhoff: in fact, three of the five largest companies in Europe are listed on the Swiss stock exchange, namely Nestle, Roche and Novartis. As an economy with strong stability and predictability, Switzerland has both a strong currency and strong supervision, so that enterprises can enter the European market and the global market. We have established a dynamic and broad capital market, and many large enterprises are listed here.
first finance: compared with other popular destinations for overseas listing of Chinese enterprises, such as the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, how does the Swiss stock exchange position itself
dieselhoff: Switzerland does not belong to the EU and is an independent and neutral market. Switzerland also has strong advantageous industries, such as life sciences and financial services. We have many advantages for investors to take advantage of. There is no doubt that exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange are larger. If the enterprise wants to be a big fish in a small pond rather than a small fish in a large pond, the Swiss stock exchange will be more attractive.
first finance and Economics: in the industrial distribution of Chinese enterprises listed in Switzerland, does ruijiao have no preference
dieselhoff : on the one hand, we welcome enterprises related to traditional strong industries in Switzerland, such as life sciences, biotechnology, financial services and building materials.
On the other hand, we hope that enterprises in the technology industry, especially those technology companies that think the process of listing in the United States is long, will open the door of the Swiss stock exchange to them. We hope to see more technology companies listed in Switzerland. Compared with the United States, Switzerland may be a better place to start the listing journey.
first finance: when can we see the first Chinese enterprise landing on the Swiss stock exchange
dieselhoff : four companies have announced relevant plans, including Sany Heavy Industry Co.Ltd(600031) , Ningbo Shanshan Co.Ltd(600884) , Gotion High-Tech Co.Ltd(002074) and Lepu Medical Technology (Beijing) Co.Ltd(300003) . A long list of companies have not announced specific plans, but have expressed their interest in listing in Switzerland. Therefore, I am confident that when everything is ready, by the second half of this year, we can see the first Chinese enterprise listed on the Swiss stock exchange, or even more than one.
first finance: you should have noticed that the share prices of some Chinese stocks have fluctuated recently. Are you worried about this
dieselhoff: when the global market fluctuates, the Swiss market also fluctuates, but it is not as significant as other markets, let alone selling. The Swiss stock market index (SMI) remained strong and remained high.
So, from this point of view, I’m not worried. I think this is the time for the stability and predictability of the Swiss market to play a role. I encourage those enterprises that are seeking listing to choose to come to Switzerland.
