The American securities markets are so fragmented they are falling behind their European counterparts and need to consolidate. This unusual view was advanced last week by New York Stock Exchange CEO John Thain at Globalisation 6, the Hewlett-Packard Exchange and Clearing Forum held in New York.
“I do think the U.S. market is substantially behind the European markets,” Thain said. “I feel that [in the US markets] there needs to be much more consolidation. We have too many exchanges; many of them don’t make any money. Our markets are fragmented product-wise. I do think that you will see, over the next few years, consolidation taking place in the US markets. I still think there will be plenty of competition, but I think there needs to be consolidation in the US marketplace.”