SIX Swiss Exchange has launched the China-Switzerland leg of the Stock Connect scheme that will enable cross-border trading between the respective stock exchanges of Switzerland, Shanghai and Shenzhen. In the scheme’s opening week, four Chinese companies listed their global depositary receipts (GDRs) in SIX. GDRs are tradeable securities issued by a bank that represent shares in foreign equity shares deposited in the home country. According to a SIX statement, the scheme will offer a number of benefits to GDR issuers, including access to an international investor base in Switzerland and a more efficient listing process, while investors will get access to the Chinese investment market and new diversification possibilities. The SIX announcement comes on the back of an MoU signed back in 2019. It also follows a number of mutual access initiatives launched by Chinese stock markets, including the original Stock Connect programme launched in 2014 that linked the respective exchanges in Hong Kong and Shanghai. More recently, there has been the launch of Swap Connect, which will create mutual access for the interbank interest rate swaps markets in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland. © 2022 funds global asia