Press releases 2002

22 November 2002

NASSCOM and London Stock Exchange work together for the benefit of Indian IT companies

NASSCOM and the London Stock Exchange today signed a Memorandum of Co-operation committing the two organisations to work together for the benefit of the Indian IT industry.

Clara Furse, Chief Executive of the London Stock Exchange said:

"This agreement reinforces the Exchange's commitment to Indian IT companies. The IT industry in India is expanding at an impressive rate and, for this to continue, companies will need access to further capital.

"London is home to more international capital than any other financial centre in the world but, more importantly in the current environment, it offers world-leading standards of corporate governance and market regulation.  These advantages mean that London is increasingly becoming the first choice for Indian IT companies that want to fund their future growth."
 
Mr Kiran Karnik, President of NASSCOM, said:

"UK is the second largest market for Indian IT Services companies accounting for about 12% of the total Indian IT Services exports. The need today is for Indian companies to consolidate and expand their presence in UK and Europe and to engage with this important financial market to raise capital.

"The MoU with LSE envisages the fulfillment of both these objectives to enable Indian IT companies to explore new horizons with UK and Europe in the technology sector."

The memorandum commits the Exchange and NASSCOM to share research and market data, organise joint marketing events and seminars, and to work together to promote the advantage of a London listing to Indian IT companies.

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Notes to editors:

• London offers a comprehensive range of markets and routes to an international listing tailored for Indian companies, including retail and professional depositary receipts, shares and bonds,
• there are 18 Indian companies listed in London. For more information visit: www.londonstockexchange.com/international/AA
• London has more international equity funds under management than any other financial centre in the world (US$2,460 billion in London compared with US$2,360 billion in New York or US$2,060 in Tokyo. Source: Thomson Financial, International Target Cities Report 2000),
• London has twice as much international trading reported as Nasdaq, NYSE, Deutsche Börse and Euronext combined (For February – June 2002. Value of non-domestic trading: London Stock Exchange £652.24 billion, Nasdaq £80.36 billion, NYSE £206.79 billion, Deutsche Börse £32.84 billion, Euronext £6.12 billion. Source: WFE/FESE),
• There are more countries represented on the London Stock Exchange’s markets than any other exchange in the world. Companies from 62 countries are on the Exchange’s markets (at end July 2002) compared with 41 on Nasdaq (at end September 4th 2002) and 51 on NYSE (at August 9th 2002). Source: London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq and NYSE websites,
• techMARK is a global market for innovative technology companies and techMARK mediscience is an international market for healthcare companies.  Visit: www.londonstockexchange.com/techmark or www.londonstockexchange.com/techmark/mediscience