The EU Competition Commission yesterday sent its Statement of Objections to a merger by the Deutsche Brse and NYSE Euronext.
The objections follow the anti-trust regulators probe into the merger, which started in August.
On receiving the objections, the two exchanges responded with the following statement: The Statement of Objections is a normal step in a second phase merger procedure. It sets out a provisional position of the Commission and does not prejudge the final outcome of the case.
We continue to strongly believe that our combination provides substantial capital and cost savings to users; advances the goal of a unified, liquid EU capital market for raising money and managing risk; and does not materially alter the competitive landscape.
We have worked closely with the European Commission during this process, and we look forward to continuing our open and constructive discussions as we work to complete the transaction by the end of this year.
The EU Competition Commissions specific objections to the merger are unknown. However, in its probe, the regulator said it was concerned by the near monopoly a merger of the exchanges futures trading platforms would create.
The objections will now see further discussions among the exchanges. These discussions may include concessions to the deal.
The deal requires approval by EU competition authorities and exchange supervisory authorities. It received approval from German financial regulator BaFin in September.
Meanwhile, the Exchange Council of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange today gave its backing to the merger. Deutsche Brse said that in an additional meeting, the council gave particular attention to various legal and economic studies and their conclusions. The focus of the meeting related to stock exchange legislation and macroeconomic issues concerning the merger. The Exchange Council is convinced of a positive outcome of the exchange supervisory authoritys shareholder control procedure. The Exchange Council has no objections that even after the merger German or European regulation will exclusively continue to be applied to the Companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, said a statement from Deutsche Borse.
(JDC)