NYSE on NSE?

The Nifty has conquered 5000 and guess who is interested in a greater partnership with the National Stock Exchange? Well it's the New York Stock Exchange.

A 5% stake in the national stock exchange and that has got the New York Stock Exchange a board seat on India 's largest stock exchange - the National Stock Exchange. But that may only be the beginning. NYSE will be keen to up its stake from the current five percent once the government regulations are eased.

" We are mindful and respect Indian regulations. But if they do ease, we will surely consider increasing our stake" says Nelson Chai, CFO, NYSE

In all 13 Indian companies, includingICICI, Wipro and Tata Motors are listed on the NYSE and while the American exchange is looking for more Indian companies to join the list, that won’t be easy. Over 3 dozen companies, most of them European, are looking to delist from NYSE - citing increasing cost of compliance on account of the Sarbanes Oxley legislation - the American equivalent of clause 49 of the Indian listing agreements. Clause 49 deals with increased disclosures in accounting standards and corporate governance. NYSE is hopeful that the exodus of companies is temporary and says companies can expect little bit of easing of regulations in the near future.

" We are working on making Sarbanes Oxley more risk based than rules based" adds Chai.

These are encouraging words that could spur many more Indian companies to join the elite NYSE list.