NYSE Euronext Wooing Indian Companies

MUMBAI (Reuters) – NYSE Euronext (NYX.N) (NYX.PA), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, is talking with many Indian companies for possible foreign listings as global stock markets show signs of recovery, a senior official said.

“Our Indian clients see the need to grow and raise capital and when there is a recovery, they could turn to international markets,” Ronald Kent, executive vice president and head of international listings, told reporters in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Kent said he met with about six companies in New Delhi on Tuesday, and would look to speak with more in Mumbai, but did not provide details about the firms.

NYSE Euronext does not see any need to tighten its listing regulations after India’s biggest corporate fraud was unveiled at outsourcer Satyam Computer (SATY.BO), which also trades on the NYSE (SAY.N), he said.

Its existing rules are adequate to tackle similar problems if they arise in the future, Kent said.

The company, which also runs stock exchanges in Paris, Amsterdam, Lisbon and Brussels as well as options and futures markets, holds a 5 percent stake each in the National Stock Exchange of India and the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX).

The holding in India’s biggest stock bourse and the leading commodity exchange is the the maximum allowed under present rules in India.

MCX’s plans to launch a new stock exchange in India will not present a possible conflict of interest for NYSE Euronext, which hopes to continue working with both firms, Kent said.

The New York Stock Exchange currently lists 12 Indian companies, including private-sector lenders ICICI Bank (ICBK.BO) (IBN.N), HDFC Bank (HDBK.BO) (HDB.N) and top vehicle maker Tata Motors (TAMO.BO) (TTM.N).

Business process and technology services provider Genpact Ltd (G.N) was the last India-based firm to be listed on the NYSE. It began trading on the U.S. exchange in August 2007. (Reporting by Pratish Narayanan; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)