London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) sees no immediate contagion from the recent US SEC indictment of the Adani Group or its directors on Indian companies seeking to raise funds in the UK financial markets, according to its visiting CEO, David Schwimmer.
“I expect that international investors (especially in the UK) are not going to tar the whole Indian economy with the same brush. There is a kind of sophistication about different markets, and different issuers. I would expect institutional investors would evaluate each opportunity as they come”, Schwimmer told businessLine in an interview here. He was responding to a question on the likely impact of the recent Adani Group-related indictment action by US DoJ and US SEC on the UK institutional investors’ interest on future overseas issuances by other Indian companies.
He, however, declined to be drawn into or comment on the specific case.
Schwimmer noted that the UK markets are very different from the US markets in terms of greater receptivity to emerging market stories.
“For companies from emerging markets, the receptivity by UK investors or investors in the London stock exchange has been more receptive than what you see on investors from New York”, he added.
India: A Key Growth Market
Noting that India is a crucial market for LSEG, both in terms of customers and its people, Schwimmer said that it sees growth opportunities here across all its businesses.
LSEG employs over 25,000 people globally, more than half located in Asia-Pacific. Of this, it has 7,500 professionals in offices across Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Delhi.
“This year we announced the opening of our Technology Centre of Excellence in Hyderabad. The Centre will focus on Cloud Security, DevOps, and ERP, aligning with LSEG’s objectives. Currently, we have nearly 500 professionals working in Hyderabad across various roles. And we aim to hire more than 1,000 engineers and professionals by the end of 2025”, Schwimmer added.
LSEG, which is the number one provider of real-time market data around the world, is also into Risk intelligence business and FTSE Russell Index Provider business; Market infrastructure business; Foreign exchange trading business; Fixed income trading business (tradeweb) and London Clearing House Business.
INDEX Products
LSEG Chief Executive also said that FTSE Russell, an index provider and part of LSEG, is in the process of providing index products in the Indian market.
Schwimmer noted there is a growing investor community in the Indian market and LSEG’s discussions with potential partners brought out an interesting opportunity on this front.
“Typically when there is demand for our index products, we would partner with local institutions …who would perhaps launch a mutual fund or an exchange-traded fund. They would be the manager. We would then construct the index”, he said.
The index products planned to be rolled out for the Indian market could be under FTSE or Russell umbrella.
FTSE Russell had last month announced that it will add India to its Emerging Markets Government Bond Index from September 2025.
Schwimmer, who met Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday, said that the Indian government bond inclusion is a reflection of the progress India is making in enhancing its attractiveness as a destination of international capital.
It is also a reflection of an growing interest by international capital in India, he added.
FTSE Russell has index products in markets all over the world including Asia. There will be billions of international capital following the index and as Indian government bonds get included they will put more capital into this index, he added.
PISCES Platform
Schwimmer said that LSEG plans to in the first half of the calendar year 2025 go live with the Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (PISCES).
PISCES, an intermittent trading venue, is a platform to allow private companies to trade their securities in a controlled environment and on an intermittent basis. It will operate as a secondary market, facilitating the trading of existing shares. It will not facilitate capital raising through the issuance of new shares, or the trading of other securities ( eg bonds, exchange-traded funds).
Only shares in companies whose shares are not admitted to trading on a public market, either in the UK or abroad can be traded on PISCES. This includes UK-based private and public limited companies (PLCs) and overseas companies.
