FRANKFURT/BRUSSELS (Business News) - The European Commission will not include over-the-counter derivatives in its antitrust review of Deutsche Boerse's planned takeover of NYSE Euronext, three people familiar with the matter said on Monday.
Deutsche Boerse owns electronic derivatives exchange Eurex, while NYSE Euronext operates the Liffe derivatives exchange.
Both parties have said the combination of their platforms would not harm competition in the derivatives markets, given the majority of derivatives were not traded via an exchange but as part of the over-the-counter (OTC) market.
Two sources familiar with Deutsche Boerse's thinking said the European Union's antitrust body signaled it would only look at the market for derivatives traded on an exchange when it assessed the impact of the tie-up.
A person familiar with the European Commission's thinking said it had defined the relevant product market as exchange-listed derivatives and not the OTC market.
"At this stage, the parties' definition of the derivatives market is quite diffe rent from what the Commission thinks it is," said a source with direct knowledge of the matter. The source declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.
"The Commission has provisionally made up its mind (on the product definition)," the source said.
NYSE Euronext declined to comment. A spokeswoman for EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia also declined to comment.
Earlier this month, Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext said they received from European Union antitrust regulators a formal "statement of objections" against their planned $ 9 billion merger.
Deutsche Boerse will now review whether the concerns can be addressed. On Monday, it said it and the European Commission were "at the beginning of an intense dialogue" about the merits of a deal.
{ 0 comments... Views All / Send Comment! }
Posting Komentar