SIX Group
SIX is a service provider for the financial industry and operates the infrastructure of Switzerland's financial center. The abbreviation stands for Swiss Infrastructure and Exchange. SIX develops and maintains securities trading and post-trading platforms and sells cashless payment systems. SIX operates worldwide and is headquartered in Zurich.
 | |
| Public company | |
| Industry | Financial services |
| Headquarters | Zurich, Switzerland |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
Alexandre Zeller (Chairman) Urs Rüegsegger (CEO) |
| Revenue |
 CHF 1.810 million (2015)[1] |
Number of employees | 4,058 [1] |
| Website | www.six-group.com |
Business model
SIX provides services in four business areas: It offers a stock exchange platform where buyers and sellers of securities can come together. It guarantees both sides that the transaction will take place, processes the transaction in a fully automated way and takes custody of the securities involved. It also provides its clients with financial data from around the world and enables cashless payment transfers. SIX is subject to government supervision by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) and the Swiss National Bank (SNB).
Securities trading via Swiss Exchange
SIX operates Switzerland's stock market. The main purpose of the SIX Swiss Exchange is to admit securities, operate the trading platform, monitor trading activities and distribute market data. The trading platform operated by the SIX Swiss Exchange and the SIX Structured Products Exchange allows the trading of equities, bonds, derivatives, investment funds and certificates, among other things. SIX also provides and calculates indices such as the Swiss Market Index (SMI).
Post-trading processing and other securities services
Once a trade has been completed on a stock exchange, SIX Securities Services takes care of all subsequent processes. SIX Securities Services acts as a contractual third party between financial transaction partners throughout Europe (central counterparty or CCP), thereby reducing the risks to which both the buyer and the seller would be exposed. This process is known as clearing. SIX then electronically processes the transaction by ensuring that the buyer receives the shares and the seller receives payment. This is a process known as settlement. This includes the process of managing real-time payments between banks. SIX also operates the infrastructure and systems for the safekeeping of shares and high-value documents. This protecting of assets and shares from unauthorized access on behalf of financial institutions is known as custody. In this regard, SIX Securities Services acts as Switzerland's central securities depository and has custody of most of the financial instruments issued under Swiss law. SIX also provides this custody service for international clients. SIX Securities Services, on behalf of the Swiss financial market, also operates platforms for direct debit payments and e-billing. In addition, for the Cantons of Switzerland, SIX Securities Services manages the electronic information portal for land registry data. The latter is run under the name of Terravis and enables mortgage, land and trade registry transactions.[2]
Financial information
SIX obtains financial data from international stock markets and companies in real time and sells it on. This includes basic information about listed companies (reference data) and information about measures affecting shareholder capital and voting rights (corporate actions). SIX customers can also keep up to date with the share prices and market rates of some 15 million financial institutions. Banks and other market players make decisions about financial transactions and assess investment risks based on financial data provided by SIX.
Cashless payment transactions
SIX processes credit, debit and prepaid card payments in Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg and many other European countries. In addition, SIX enables cash withdrawals at ATMs and ensures that hotels, restaurants and retailers can safely and easily accept payment cards at the terminal or online. In Austria, SIX also issues payment cards. Since 2015, SIX provides the mobile payment solution «Paymit» for payments by smartphone.
History
Founding
in 2008, SWX Group, Telekurs Group and SIS Group joined forces to form Swiss Financial Market Services, which began to operate under the brand SIX Group in 2008. The company provides services in the areas of securities trading (former SWX Group), securities services (former SIS Group) and financial information and payment transactions (former Telekurs Group). The merged company began operating under the name of Swiss Financial Market Services, before launching the SIX brand in August 2008.
Acquisitions
In 2013, SIX took over the Austrian PayLife Bank GmbH, followed by Norwegian Oslo Clearing ASA in early 2014.
SIX increased its stake in Luxembourg's financial infrastructure service provider CETREL in 2014, which is now fully owned by SIX.
Cetrel and PayLife merged with SIX Payment Services and continue to operate under the name of the latter.
Anti trust proceedings
SIX Multipay AG launched a DCC function in 2005 that was only available on SIX Card Solutions AG card terminals. The Federal Competition Commission COMCO intervened and accused SIX subsidiary of abusing its dominant market position. In December 2006, SIX Multipay AG made the DCC function available to other terminal providers and disclosed the interface data. Four years later, the COMCO imposed a fine of CHF 7 million on SIX. SIX paid the fine, thereby ending the anti-trust proceedings.
Ownership structure
SIX is owned by 140 national and international banks in Switzerland that are also the main users of its services. SIX is not listed on the stock exchange.
- 30.1% major banks
- 19.1% foreign banks
- 15.1% commercial and investment banks
- 13.9% cantonal banks
- 9.0% private banks
- 8.5% regional and Raiffeisen banks
- 3.1% treasury shares
- 1.2% other
Initiatives
SIX sponsors Wertpapierwelt in Olten, the world's first international museum for historical bonds and shares.[3] The collection comprises around 7,000 items and documents four centuries of economic history.
SIX also runs the FinTech Incubator F10 at Förrlibuckstrasse 10 in Zurich, where staff from SIX and various start-up companies work together with the aim of further developing financial technology in Switzerland.[4]