Nasdaq talks to India about overseas listings for local companies
Indian companies to list directly on foreign stock exchanges, a senior Nasdaq executive said.
Indian companies are currently not allowed to list their shares directly on overseas markets, but global investors and top Indian startups have been calling for this to change.
Allowing Indian companies to list abroad on exchanges like Nasdaq will give them wider access to capital, Nasdaq's Executive Vice Chairman Edward Knight said in an interview.
Knight was speaking on the sidelines of a conference in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT), where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking to attract foreign investment, months before a reelection bid.
«We are hopeful that when they (rules) are finally promulgated it will facilitate listing of companies not only here in GIFT city but also other jurisdictions,» Knight said. He said Nasdaq held talks in October with India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and markets regulator SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, and asked them if foreign listings can be allowed beyond GIFT, and that foreign bourses should not be excluded from the policymaking.
