It was the first stock exchange in the world to incorporate a fully automated trading, clearing and settlement system.
[4] In 2002, the association was changed to a public limited company called SWX Swiss Exchange AG.
In July 2004, it rejected a merger proposal from Deutsche Börse, which analysts anticipated as profitable for many small companies listed on SWX Swiss Exchange.
The SPI, or Swiss Performance Index, contains more than 200 companies listed on the exchange that meet requirements.
Geneva paved the way in the year 1850, when the Société des agents de change réunis (English: United Brokers Association) was founded.
After the Second World War, banking fees for trades on exchanges were unified in a broker conference.
This development continued until the Kennedy Slide of 1962, which was triggered by measures against the economic slowdown, the New York crash, and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Following the deregulation and the termination of the Bretton Woods System (fixed exchange rates) by the United States, in the 1970s, a fundamental transformation of the economy and of the financial landscape started, which is still ongoing today.
Fluctuating exchange rates carried new risks for the economy and a need for hedging solutions arose.
In Switzerland, the oil shock led to such a rush on investment money that it was considered to close the exchanges.
[3] On 16 August 1995, the closing bells rang for the last time on the trading floors, ending an era spanning more than a century.
Hence, it was only in May 2000 that the Swiss Performance Index crossed again the peak of 5,237 points that it had reached before the Russian crisis.
The SPI reached its bottom of 2,603 points one and a half years later, on 12 March 2003, at the peak of the SARS-epidemic and the Iraq war.
With the acquisition of International Securities Exchange Holding (ISE), one of the largest trading platforms for finance derivatives emerged.
The price for ISE was $2.8 billion and it was financed through Eurex,[19] which was then owned 85% by Deutsche Börse and 15% by SWX Swiss Exchange.
In 2023, AsiaNext has received a license as a Recognized Market Operator (RMO) by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
[25] SIX Swiss Exchange is part of the SIX Group, which provides a number of other financial market infrastructure services in Switzerland.