The American Stock Exchange (Amex), and pan-European exchange Euronext, have entered an agreement to cross list and trade US, European and other internationally sourced exchange traded funds (ETFs) or trackers.
The joint venture will be a part of a global network of ETF marketplaces aiming at offering facilities for trading, cross listing, information dissemination, and marketing of the products globally. The partners say they want achieve seamless 24-hour global trading of ETFs.
ETFs and trackers are indexed funds that trade throughout the day in the same way as individual stocks. They were first listed by the Amex in 1993 and launched on Euronext under the name trackers in January.
"Bringing Amex-listed ETFs to Europe, a critical market, is the essential next step in our strategy to develop a global ETF trading network," says Salvatore Sodano, Amex chairman and chief executive officer. He says the alliance aims to provide investors with the opportunity to trade the same class of ETF shares across time zones.
In June 2000, the Amex announced a joint venture with the Singapore Exchange, creating a separate company to trade Amex-listed ETFs in Singapore. Trading through the Singapore joint venture is expected to commence in the second quarter of 2001.