The New York Stock Exchange sees growth through US and Asian expansion and with new products rather than entering the bidding battle for the London Stock Exchange, its chairman said on Thursday. "We would not be very interested in getting into any bidding competition for the LSE," said John Thain, chairman and chief executive of the NYSE, at the World Economic Forum in Davos. "I have plenty to do in the US right now."
Thain said the exchange's Asian business was growing rapidly, with China and India representing the biggest opportunities, and with more opportunities as well in Russia, Brazil and Eastern Europe.
"There are less synergies between the US and London than there are across Europe," he told reporters. "The two big growth areas of the world are China and India."
In October 2003 the NYSE signed a memorandum of understanding with the Shanghai Stock Exchange, but the Big Board will face competition from the LSE which has also been on the prowl for Indian and Chinese companies to have a secondary listing in London.
Thain said the United States would remain the focus of the exchange's expansion for the coming year as it examines ways to expand its product line to include trading in options, futures, derivatives, convertible bonds and fixed income products, putting it head-to-head with Chicago's derivatives exchanges.
"There are opportunities for us to trade related products," Thain said. "The only way we're going to grow faster than the cash market is to expand our product base."
"Our focus for the next year will be much more on the US," he added.
The strategy echoes that of rival Nasdaq, which has also refocused on its core US business to take on the Big Board directly. The NYSE will also have to come to terms with a major change anticipated in the way shares are traded in the United States.
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