GIFT City’s international financial market ecosystem received a new cross-border boost on Wednesday after the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and NSE IFSC Ltd (NSEIX) signed a memorandum of understanding to explore joint listings, trading links and new financial products between India and the United Kingdom.
The agreement covers potential dual and cross-listings in equities, fixed-income securities and exchange-traded funds. The two exchanges will also examine trading in existing financial products and the development of NSEIX-linked derivatives connected to FTSE Russell indices.
The proposed collaboration includes work on new equity indices, cross-border trading connectivity and the distribution of market data. However, the MoU does not announce a specific product launch, listing, trading commencement date or implementation timetable. The exchanges have agreed to explore these opportunities through the partnership.
NSEIX is based in GIFT City’s International Financial Services Centre and offers single-stock and index derivatives, currency derivatives, depository receipts and global stocks. Its primary-market products include equity shares, debt securities, real estate investment trusts and infrastructure investment trusts.
The partnership places GIFT City’s financial-market infrastructure at the centre of a proposed India-UK capital-market link. It follows the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA, and is intended to deepen financial-services integration between the two countries.
“The agreement aims to open up opportunities in capital market connectivity and financial services integration between the two countries,” NSEIX managing director and chief executive V Balasubramaniam said.
Balasubramaniam said the proposed collaboration could enable trading in both directions, improve liquidity and widen the investor base. He added that NSEIX’s presence in the GIFT IFSC ecosystem and the London Stock Exchange’s established market position could help deepen financial-market links between India and the UK.
Dame Julia Hoggett, chief executive of London Stock Exchange plc and head of digital and securities markets at London Stock Exchange Group, said the agreement would help connect the two markets and create opportunities for companies and investors.
For GIFT City, the announcement adds another international exchange relationship to the financial-services ecosystem being developed inside its IFSC. The immediate outcome is an agreed framework for exploring market connectivity, while the nature, scale and timing of any resulting listings, trading arrangements, indices or derivatives remain to be determined through further work by the two exchanges.
