UPDATE: SEC Clears Way For NYSE, Deutsche Boerse To Merge
18 Gennaio 2012 - 8:45PM
Dow Jones News
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday approved the
proposed merger of NYSE Euronext (NYX) and Deutsche Boerse AG
(DB1.XE, DBOEF), adding to U.S. authorizations of a deal seen
likely to be nixed by European Union regulators.
SEC officials approved a raft of rule filings by the NYSE
Euronext-owned exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange and
NYSE Amex, as well as the Deutsche Boerse-owned International
Securities Exchange, relating to a change in ownership that would
see the markets move under a new parent.
The approvals are contingent upon the planned $17 billion
combination closing. Investors and analysts now see slim odds of
that happening after EU antitrust examiners last week recommended
that the body's commissioners block the deal on grounds that it
would create a monopoly in European listed futures and options
trade. The EU is slated to take up the matter Feb. 1, with a Feb. 9
deadline to turn in a verdict.
A spokesman for NYSE Euronext said Wednesday that the company
welcomed the SEC decisions.
In mid-October, exchange rule filings related to changes of
ownership were filed by the New York Stock Exchange and its sister
markets Amex and Arca, all owned by NYSE Euronext. Options exchange
operator ISE submitted a similar rule change, as well as the two
stock markets run by Direct Edge Holdings LLC. New York-based ISE
is wholly owned by Deutsche Boerse's derivatives unit Eurex, and
ISE in turn owns a 31.5% stake in Direct Edge.
All of those exchanges needed the SEC's approval to become
subsidiaries of a new parent that would be formed by the Deutsche
Boerse-NYSE Euronext merger. Wednesday was the deadline for SEC
officials to rule on the matter.
A green light from the SEC follows approvals from other major
U.S. regulatory agencies. In August, the U.S. Committee on Foreign
Investment in the United States allowed the deal to proceed, and in
late December, the U.S. Department of Justice approved it on the
condition that the ISE divest its ownership in Direct Edge, which
competes directly with the NYSE's stock-trading platforms.
Those blessings will be moot, however, if EU commissioners deem
the combination anticompetitive. Such hurdles to the deal have
always been accepted as higher in Europe, where together the two
exchange groups account for an estimated 93% of business in
exchange-traded derivatives. Trading U.S. futures is a small
business for NYSE Euronext, and Deutsche Boerse has no U.S.-based
platform.
Executives of NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse are now mounting
a lobbying effort to convince EU policy makers that the deal will
improve regulators' view into trading activity and strengthen the
region's voice in global market matters.
NYSE Euronext Chief Executive Duncan Niederauer met with two
commissioners Tuesday, and efforts are seen ramping up at the World
Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, later this month.
-By Jacob Bunge, Dow Jones Newswires; 312-750-4117;
jacob.bunge@dowjones.com
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