Singapore Exchange, which is bidding for Australia’s ASX, plans to quote American depositary receipts of Indian, Taiwanese and South Korean companies by the first half of 2011.

The bourse, Asia’s second-largest publicly traded exchange by market value, will first build up trading volumes on the 19 Chinese ADRs it started trading last week, Rick Aston, head of product sales, said in an interview in Hong Kong yesterday. Those ADRs range from PetroChina Co., Asia’s biggest company by market value, to search-engine operator Baidu Inc.

“We’re essentially bringing these Asian companies back to Asia,” Aston said. “We think this will bring in new investors and add volume.”

He declined to comment on the company’s move to acquire ASX, the operator of Australia’s dominant stock exchange. Singapore Exchange, led by Chief Executive Officer Magnus Bocker, is trying to develop a pan-Asian presence to compete with Hong Kong and Tokyo.

The Singaporean bourse started quoting the 19 Chinese ADRs on Oct 22 and bid about A$8 billion ($10 billion) for Sydney- based ASX on Oct 25. The company is also planning to introduce a faster trading system by the first quarter of 2011.

New Initiatives
“If you’re going to just depend on Singapore listings alone, that might not generate the kind of growth they’re hoping to get,” said James Koh, who covers the exchange as an analyst for Kim Eng Securities in Singapore. “Bocker is obviously a very proactive CEO and is generating a lot of new initiatives.”

Singapore Exchange’s ADR partnership is the third between the bourse and Nasdaq OMX Group Inc., Bocker’s former employer. The two exchanges share trading technology and announced on Oct. 22 a collaboration to get companies to seek dual listings in Singapore and New York.

Shares of the Singaporean bourse lost 0.9% to $8.80. The stock fell 7.8% this week, the biggest weekly decline since May 2009, amid concern the company is paying too much for ASX and that Australia’s government will block the deal.

Three Australian lawmakers said yesterday they opposed the ASX sale, meaning Singaporean Exchange needs the support of the Labor government and at least four other legislators in the lower house of parliament to approve the transaction.

Joe Hockey, the treasury spokesman for Australia’s opposition coalition, told reporters in Sydney today that he sought more information about the ASX sale.