The London Stock Exchange is plotting the creation of an 'international board', that would allow cross-border trading in blue chip stocks listed on six different national exchanges.
The plan was revealed by Tony Weeresinghe, director of global development at the LSE at the World Exchanges Congress in Madrid.
"We're bringing in the concept of an international board. It's a new concept, where we will trade other countries' stocks during London time and we will do it as a partnership," Weeresinghe told the conference.
Speaking to Dow Jones on the sidelines, Weeresinghe added: "We're talking to four or five exchanges around the world and we want to trade their top blue chips. This is not a listing, but a partnership in trading...With this, the exchanges will be able to make their blue chips visible [to foreign investors] without having to spend a single cent."
Earlier this week at the same event, Liquidnet CEO Seth Merrin advocated the idea of partnerships between liquidity venues as a cheap and viable alternative to the wave of mega mergers currently sweeping the industry. Liquidnet has already secured a deal to provide SIX Swiss Exchange member firms with direct screen access to its institutional block trading network.
"Through one partnership, an exchange can open its doors to the 39 markets where we operate attracting more investable assets locally and presenting more opportunities for local brokers to go out globally - all in a safe and efficient manner," he says.