In an exclusive interview to The Financial Express, Mr Berkeley spoke about the emerging scenarios in the global equity market. Excerpts from the interview.

What is the idea behind the Nasdaq setting up an India liaison office?Our policies are based on a ten-year perspective and according to me, India is a going to be a big market in this time-scale. I think there is a striking parallel in what is happening in the Indian software industry at present and what happened to the US software industry in the 1980s. At the Nasscom meeting in Mumbai, I could feel the same excitement, which permeated the US industry in the 1980s. This is an indication of the business potential emerging in the area.

Our experience in Israel shows that we are right in identifying the correct markets. We set up operations in Israel around one year back and currently 118 companies are listed in Nasdaq-Israel. India is a much big country and the potential here is going to be definitely better.

Do you think there is any possibility of a tie-up with any of the Indian exchanges?
It is too early to begin such a conversation. May be as we go along, the occasion may arise. The first priority will be to service the existing clients - Infosys, Satyam and Rediff. Certainly we are looking at Indian companies, especially those belonging to the new economy.

Have you started discussions with any of the Indian companies?
Certainly. Last time, when I was in India it was only for four days. But this time I am spending 17 days and I am meeting with top government officials and corporate leaders. I had discussions with some of the leading Indian companies. But these are of very preliminary nature.

The crash of the new economy stocks in Nasdaq is a matter of great concern. What will be the impact of the crash on the market?
Our volumes has already returned to the level of 2.5 billion shares a day from a low of 1.7 billion shares few months back. But the indices are yet to touch a high level. It is normal to have ups and downs. If you look at history you could find several instances of bubble and burst.

In any given situation three players are active in the market - investors, speculators and gamblers. Perhaps the last two - speculators and gamblers - are responsible for high volatility. We can not simply stop speculators and gamblers from entering into the market. But more than 80 per cent of the shares are always with investors having long-term projections. So there is no need to panic.

I also wanted to correct an impression that Nasdaq is a place for only software companies. We have everything, with the manufacturing sector taking 26 per cent of the total volume. Then we also have banking, finance, insurance, real estate and services.

What are the possibilities of an integrated global equity market?
This is a fairly difficult question as it involves a lot of policy changes in many parts of the world. But the possibility of closer cooperation between US and Canada, US and Britain or US and Europe cannot be ruled out. We have established a rudimentary form of global equity trading in Nasdaq, Japan. Now Japanese investors can buy shares of US companies in yen. Similarly a pilot project on certain selected stocks are going on between Nasdaq and HongKong Exchange. It is too pre-mature to analyse the impact of such transactions. We are putting together the building blocks of a global exchange. As the opportunity emerges, we will be in a position to take full advantage.