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Tom Healy, CEO of the Abu Dhabi Securities Market, explains why the exchange is taking an international perspective to help it grow.

Gulf stock markets have been building relationships with international exchange operators recently in an attempt to raise their standards - and their profiles.

From Borse Dubai (operator of Dubai's two exchanges) and its complicated acquisition of stakes in OMX and NASDAQ, to the Doha Securities Market and its preferred partner status with the London Stock Exchange, the region's bourses are hoping to draw on the experience their allies can bring.

Abu Dhabi Securities Market (ADSM) was the latest to form a strategic alliance with an international name, signing an agreement with NYSE Euronext in March.

ADSM and its ultimate owners, the Abu Dhabi government, have not taken an equity stake in NYSE Euronext, but are hoping that it can bring its expertise to bear on the fledgling exchange.

The relationship is about more than just technology sharing, says Tom Healy, CEO of the ADSM.

"The main purpose of it, as far as we're concerned, is to take advantage of their expertise and experience because we want to build up this market very quickly and significantly," he says.

"They've got a level of expertise and world reach in terms of the footprint of their trading platform, their marketing expertise, their experience of other markets and new products."

NYSE Euronext's trading system is the nearest to a global system available today, Healy adds.

The partnership is not strictly exclusive, but it means that NYSE Euronext will have a presence in the Gulf and ADSM will have access to an international player.

"We have said since I got here that if we were to have a relationship with an international player it should be based on a sound business case, rather than what a lot of other people have done, which is buy a large share of someone and then start discussing the business," says Healy.

He says that although the ADSM has made good progress since its inception in 2000, it has larger ambitions. "It's a very profitable company, it's supplying good market services here in the UAE, but there's a bigger world out there," says Healy.

"We're never going to dominate the market worldwide, but we want to be seen as the centre of the Gulf. To get there, we have to become more international than we are at the moment."

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