EU Regulated Market Segment

Swiss blue chip securities

Swiss blue chip securities admitted to trading on SWX Europe's EU Regulated Market Segment are listed in the SWX "EU-Compatible" Segment and must comply with the SWX Additional Rules. Prospectuses for SMI and SLI securities listed in this segment must also be approved by the Financial Services Authority. SWX Swiss Exchange has published a Memorandum on the Regulatory Framework for issuers; this includes a description of the relevant EU Directives and their impact on issuers.

The purpose of the SWX "EU-Compatible" Segment is to provide the appropriate framework for those SMI and SLI issuers that wish to profit from the benefits of the harmonised EU capital market for their equity securities and who are thus prepared to fulfil the requirements of the applicable EU Directives (for example the Prospectus Directive, the Market Abuse Directive and the Transparency Directive).

The EU's capital market regulations also apply in principle to these issuers. This means that they may also benefit from the "EU passport" for prospectuses, and that they can request the admission of their shares to trading in any EU Member State in accordance with the mechanism provided for in the EU Prospectus Directive.

On 1 July 2005, SMI securities were allocated by the SWX Admission Board to the "EU-Compatible" Segment and accordingly admitted to trading in the EU Regulated Market Segment for SMI securities of SWX Europe. If an issuer opted to be allocated to the Main Listing Segment, its shares were admitted to trading on SWX Europe's UK Exchange Regulated Market Segment for SMI securities.

On 24 September 2007, the SLI securities that previously were not included in the SMI or admitted to trading on SWX Europe were transferred to SWX Europe's UK Exchange Regulated Market Segment (which was renamed the UK Exchange Regulated Market Segment for Swiss blue chip securities). SLI issuers now have the option of having their shares listed in the SWX "EU-Compatible" Segment on publication of a prospectus approved by SWX as well as the responsible authorities in the home EU member state.