WFE to switch headquarters to London

The World Federation of Exchanges is to relocate its main headquarters from Paris to London in an attempt to strengthen its relationships with investment banks and institutional investors, its main users.

The decision to move from its base in the French capital for the past 52 years was approved by the global trade association's members at its annual meeting in Mexico City on Tuesday. It also further increased its membership to 62 regulated exchanges with the inclusion of five new bourses.

The move, expected to be completed before the end of the year, is the highest-profile act by the WFE in its push to transform itself to a more active association focused on lobbying regulators globally for the interests of exchanges.

In the past decade its traditional business of serving as a platform for raising equity capital has come under sustained attack, partly from users, and it has had to address new issues such as equity market fragmentation, "dark pools" and high-frequency trading.

"London is a world-class financial city. Relocation brings us closer to our customers, both on the sell side and buy side. Many WFE members have offices in London," said Andreas Preuss, chairman of the WFE board.

The move comes as a blow to Paris, which has been home to the organisation since the creation of its predecessor, the "Federation Internationale des Bourses de Valeurs", in 1961.

"Our ultimate goal is to transform WFE into a more outward looking organisation actively engaged with the financial industry," said Huseyin Erkan, who was appointed as the first chief executive of the WFE a year ago.

The assembly approved five new members - Dubai Financial Markets, Hochiminh Stock Exchange, Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, New Zealand Stock Exchange and Qatar Exchange.

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