It's not a bad idea. One stock exchange for all of eastern Europe's blue chips, a brand new trading system that will access investment dollars through a stable western market. The Vienna stock market's plan to do this looks superficially sound, but there are pitfalls.
The Vienna bourse wants its East Exchange up and running by this time next year. Between now and then it will work out the details of how it will operate, which companies will be able to list and who will manage it. Already the basics are in place. The exchange will use the Xetra clearing system. Initially, it will have 96 stocks (82 already-listed companies from Frankfurt and 14 from Vienna) and be managed by east Europeans.
The new exchange will be a partnership between the Frankfurt and Vienna bourses. This will allow Vienna to tap...
