Nasdaq welcomes small Indian companies

Sunday, 08 April 2007, 19:30 IST
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Kolkata: Nasdaq, the largest electronic screen-based equity securities market in the U.S., hopes to get more companies from India listed with the launch of a portal market services platform meant for small companies by June. "The small companies have to meet certain basic parameters in terms of turnover and good track record for listing. The companies should have transparent disclosure norms for getting listed in the exchange," Nasdaq's Managing Director (Asia Pacific) Ghanshyam Dass said here Saturday. He said 14 Indian companies had already registered for the Nasdaq portal. Registration for the service was on and it would be operative soon. There are eight Indian companies listed on the Nasdaq and two of them - Infosys Technologies and Cognizant - have earned a place in the Nasdaq 100 index, meant for the best 100 companies in the bourse. Dass said Nasdaq, having a long history of acting as a platform for companies intending to raise capital from U.S. investors, provides liquidity, transparency, low cost spreads, efficient delivery systems and global reach required of a quality market. "The exchange provides a good risk management system during panic situations through presence of multiple underwriters for companies. This helps the investors to liquidate positions in a bear market," Dass said. "We operate in a hybrid market structure and offer auction facilities in a bear market when there is absence of buyers for stocks," he said. The cost of a company going public in Nasdaq typically comes to 3.5 percent of the fund raised, he said. With more and more retail investors investing funds in stock exchange, stringent disclosure norms pursued by Nasdaq listed companies act as a buffer to the risks associated with the markets, he said. Dass expects more of integration in the markets going forward. Nasdaq had picked up 29 percent stake in the London Stock Exchange (LSE). However, he declined to comment on reports of the possibility of Nasdaq picking up a stake in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), India's oldest and biggest bourse. "As a strategic investor, we are exploring opportunities as and when they come," he said. Nasdaq recently launched a dedicated index of Chinese companies listed in the U.S. Asked about a similar index for India, Dass said that option could be thought of if more Indian companies get listed in the bourse.
Source: IANS