After the fall of communism, Austrian banks were the first to seize opportunities in the entire Central European region. It gained influence mostly everywhere with the exception of Poland, where mainly banks from Germany, Italy and Spain applied. Some other metropolises in the region have tried to establish themselves as major players in the field of financial services, but it turned out that they are very small and less regulated than to be serious competition, the daily writes.

“Prague, which is one of the most attractive cities in Europe, was the first magnet for the regional centers of international companies. However, the Prague Stock Exchange played an important role in the failed coupon privatization, which was to ensure the transfer of state property into the hands of Czech citizens, “the British newspaper warned.

After two rounds of coupon privatization, there were about 1,700 issues on the Prague Stock Exchange. Due to the fact that hundreds of illiquid securities flooded the market, the stock exchange eliminated 1,301 issues in 1997 in an effort to make the market more efficient. “But it has never gained credibility,” FT added.

The attention of the British newspaper does not escape the essential; Unlike the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the Prague Stock Exchange is not able to attract new companies to place stocks on the market. While Prague had only one primary public offering (IPO), Warsaw had 203. In this respect, the Polish metropolis is exceptional even in comparison with Vienna, where only two new issues were added last year.

Watch out for Moscow

“Let’s stop celebrating the defeat of Prague, Budapest and Vienna. The new merged stock exchange in Moscow is seven times larger than Warsaw – this is where the real competitive threat could soon be, “said the head of the Warsaw Stock Exchange, Ludwik Sobolewski. According to him, the Warsaw Stock Exchange will be compared to larger players, such as Istanbul in addition to Moscow.

In the 1990s, the Budapest Stock Exchange developed very promisingly, but its influence began to wane in the following years. At the same time, Budapest aspired to be the leader of the entire Central European region. “At that time, no one would have believed that Vienna and Warsaw would be the leaders in 15 years,” said Richard Lock, a partner at Lakatos Köves in Budapest. However, political and economic changes then caused Budapest to lag behind.

Although the Vienna Stock Exchange lagged behind the Warsaw Stock Exchange in some parameters, it is probably still better off in terms of prestige. Vienna has a denser network of banks, more headquarters and other conveniences that the financial sector in Poland has not yet built.

The operator of the Vienna Stock Exchange owns the Prague, Budapest and Ljubljana Stock Exchanges, but also cooperates with other stock exchanges in the region of Central and Eastern Europe, including Romania, Bulgaria and the countries of the former Yugoslavia. It also focuses on the former Soviet republics, such as Ukraine and Kazakhstan, and in Asia on Shanghai and Tokyo.