SIX Swiss Exchange, Switzerland's principal stock exchange, is vying with Indian companies and investment bankers to raise capital through its platform.
The Zurich-based exchange, Europe's third-biggest, wants to cash in on Switzerland's near-zero interest rates, stable currency, friendly regulatory regime and large pool of investment capital.
Last week, officials of SIX Swiss Exchange met several potential issuers and advisors in Mumbai to gauge their appetite for listing their securities abroad.
"Currently, there aren't a lot of Asian issuers who are actively using Swiss market for capital raising. We want to increase awareness of SIX Swiss Exchange as a potential alternative to some of the more established exchanges in the US or Singapore," said Marco Estermann, executive director and head issuer relations, SIX Swiss Exchange.
Switzerland offers a rich pool of capital thanks to its large pension fund and private banking industry, Estermann added.
Switzerland has over 2,000 pension funds managing assets of about $1 trillion, while the assets of its private banking industry are pegged at $2 trillion. The regulatory regime in the country is such that bulk of these assets have to be invested only in Swiss franc-denominated securities. At least 70 per cent of pension fund assets in Switzerland have to be invested in Swiss franc-denominated securities and have to achieve a minimum of two per cent returns.
The exchange, however, is yet to see any equity issuance from an Indian issuer.
Officials at SIX said that they are eagerly awaiting the final guidelines on the framework allowing unlisted Indian companies to directly list overseas. In September, the government had allowed unlisted Indian to list abroad.
Estermann, who is hopeful that of an Indian listing on its exchange soon, said there is good appetite among equity investors for companies in the biotechnology, healthcare, drug retailing, and consumer goods space.
