Germany's Neuer Markt, on which Irish companies like Conduit Europe and Trintech trade, is to toghten up its rules in a bid to imrpove the market's perception worldwide.

The move, being pushed by the German government, follows a spate of company management scandals, rumours of unsider trading and lack of transparency, which have undermined investor confidence in the technology-led Neuer.

As part of the makeover, a mechanism is expected to be put in place to automatically delist companies that become insolvent or whose share price falls below a certain level.

There will also be an improvement in the auality of information provided to investors.

The Neuer has reported a 90pc downturn in the last 18 months and it is believed that the developments have been called for by a number of the biggest 343 companies on the market, in addition to banks, institutional investors and minority shareholders.

Meanwhile, Conduit subsidiary Conduit Software has signed a partnership agreement with CommVerge Solutions.

The companies will work together to marry CommVerge's position as a systems integrator in the Asia Pacific marketplace with Conduit Software's suite of wireless solutions.

(Ailish O'Hora, Irish Independent)