The chief executive of NYSE Euronext (NYX) said efforts to secure regulatory approval for the Big Board's planned merger with Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1.XE, DBOEF) will focus on winning over European Union commissioners set to decide the deal in the New Year.

CEO Duncan Niederauer said he saw "continued momentum" for the tie-up, though E.U. antitrust examiners have continued to harbor reservations that the merged entity would hold too much sway over European futures and options trading.

"After the holidays, we will commence our final push to convince the College of Commissioners that our proposed deal is good for Europe and does not impede competition," said Niederauer in an email to his employees Thursday, which was filed with regulators.

After weeks of back-and-forth with E.U. antitrust examiners and several proposed remedies to ease concerns around derivatives market domination, Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext are seen next taking their case directly to the E.U. commissioners that will vote on the deal.

After the E.U. Competition Committee completes its examination of the merger it will issue a recommendation to approve or block it. The transaction then goes to a vote by 27 E.U. commissioners. About 10% of prior mergers subject to an in-depth review and rejected by antitrust examiners have still won approval from the full college of commissioners.

To build support NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse have been lobbying political figures to back their deal, which they have positioned as a European counterweight to U.S. futures giant CME Group Inc. (CME) and other major competitors.

In recent days the exchanges also committed to freezing fees for trading and processing derivatives contracts on their combined platform for a period of three years, following a raft of potential divestitures and other steps proposed to win support for the deal.

Niederauer said the merger candidates are hopeful the proposed fee cap would have a "positive impact on the policymakers who will decide on the merger."

On Thursday the U.S. Department of Justice cleared the deal, with the agreement that Deutsche Boerse would sell off its minority stake in Direct Edge, a New Jersey stock exchange company that competes directly with the NYSE.

-By Jacob Bunge, Dow Jones Newswires; 312 750 4117; jacob.bunge@dowjones.com

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