New York, London Exchanges See Rebound in Listings

(Bloomberg) -- Corporate listings are set to rebound as financial markets stabilize and companies seek funding, the heads of the New York and London exchanges said.

“There’s a pretty big pipeline and a lot of pent-up demand,” NYSE Euronext Chief Executive Officer Duncan Niederauer said in an interview today. The supply of companies looking to list looks “very good” and will restart as financial markets stabilize, London Stock Exchange Group Plc CEO Clara Furse said. Neither CEO gave details.

The MSCI World Index has risen 34 percent from the year’s low in March, reflecting increased confidence that government stimulus plans and lower global interest rates will revive the global economy. Bourses are hoping for an end to the drought in initial public offerings, with zero venture capital-backed U.S. startups coming to market in the two quarters ending March 31, the longest halt in least 38 years.

Both Niederauer and Furse spoke in interviews during the Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai, the commercial capital of China, a potential source of new listings amid signs that the world’s third-biggest economy is being revived by the government’s 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus package.

NYSE Euronext last year asked Chinese regulators to consider relaxing rules barring companies from listing shares on both the Shanghai Stock Exchange and overseas markets. The company is seeking to meet demand from issuers who want multiple stock listings and investors interested in overseas companies.

China Listing

The bourse has the support of Chinese regulators to list in Shanghai though there is “no timetable yet,” Niederauer said. NYSE Euronext was formed in 2007, bringing together bourses including the New York Stock Exchange, London International Financial Futures & Options Exchange and markets in Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.

Confidence in the global economy jumped to the highest level in 19 months as central bankers pointed to signs of a revival and stress tests on U.S. lenders reassured investors, the Bloomberg Professional Global Confidence Index for May, a survey of users on six continents, showed.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet are among officials who have signaled the recession may be easing. While job losses are projected to keep climbing, factories are producing more as inventories run down.

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