The SWX Swiss Exchange launched Virt-x in 2001 as an electronic marketplace for pan-European blue-chip shares. Virt-x was created to compete for trading in the liquid large-company stocks that made up the Euro Stoxx 50 and similar benchmarks.
The platform was based in London and operated with links to the Swiss exchange’s technology and market infrastructure. It represented an effort to make cross-border European share trading faster and more centralized.
SWX later became part of the SIX Group, and the exchange is now generally known as SIX Swiss Exchange. Virt-x is therefore a historical name and initiative, not the current name of the Swiss exchange. The distinction matters because exchange brands and ownership changed after the 2001 launch.