The Swiss stock exchange (SWX) has finalised several agreements with the British-based electronic share trading company, Tradepoint Financial Networks, on creating their new "virt-x" trading platform.

Under the agreement, the new exchange is expected to be operational on the SWX's EBS trading platform by the end of next March. SWX will then cease trading in all its Swiss blue chip shares.

"The creation of virt-x is a major step forward for pan-European equity trading," said Swiss Exchange chief, Antoinette Hunziker-Ebneter.

"It will be a liquid pan-European exchange for trading blue chip stocks operating under a single regulatory environment and supported by an integrated trading, clearing and settlement infrastructure."

Under the agreement, virt-x will have exclusive use of SWX's EBS trading platform and it will commission the SWX to invest at least SFr22.5 million ($12.5 million) in developing the platform.

Virt-x will issue 108.4 million new shares to SWX, representing around 40 per cent of the fully diluted share capital.

Tradepoint's pan-European exchange was launched in July. Since it began trading average daily volumes have increased from SFr106 million to SFr189 million.

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