The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) and London Stock Exchange (LSE) are to swap listings of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to provide Taiwanese and British investors with access to more investment choices, TWSE Chairman Schive Chi (薛琦) said on Thursday in London.
“The ETF listing exchange is expected to begin in the first half of this year at the earliest if everything goes smoothly, “ Schive said during an interview with CNA.
Schive, accompanied by Taiwan’s representative to the UK Chang Siao-yue (張小月), visited the LSE, where he met with Antonella Amadei, head of International Relations, Strategy Division of the LSE, and other officials.
He said the LSE suggested last October that the two exchanges swap ETF listings and that details were fleshed out during the meeting.
“It marks very important progress,” he said.
Currently, 11 ETFs are listed on the TAIEX and at least 200 ETFs are listed on the LSE.
Schive said Taiwanese investors spend an average of US$40 billion on overseas funds per year and have become increasingly interested in ETFs, which are strongly resistant to price slumps compared with other securities instruments.
Schive also said Taiwan has a great opportunity to have its financial market status upgraded from “advanced emerging” to “developed” on the Financial Times Stock Exchange Group’s (FTSE’s) market rankings.
He said that he met with Mark Makepeace, chief executive and company founder of the FTSE Group, earlier in the day and was told that South Korea is set to be upgraded to a “developed” market this year, with promising prospects for Taiwan to be next.
The FTSE Group conducts surveys every February.
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