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US exchanges cry foul over ‘arbitrary’ CFTC rule

A proposed rule meant to protect investor access to fair prices on U.S. futures markets will instead drive business to less-regulated venues, boost costs, and stifle competition, the exchanges warned.

Eleven exchanges — including NYSE Euronext’s U.S. futures market, exchange giant CME Group, energy markets operator IntercontinentalExchange and Wall Street-backed ELX Futures LP — took aim at the rule in comment letters posted late Tuesday to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s web site, an unusual chorus of unity among fierce competitors. Fund manager Blackrock Inc also opposed the rule. Get the full story »

Merger wave only just begun, says LSE head

The recent wave of exchange mergers marks an era of consolidation that will leave no more than four global trading firms in five years’ time, said Xavier Rolet, the chief executive of the London Stock Exchange. Get the full story »

CME discussed merger with Deutsche Boerse

Exchange giant CME Group Inc. discussed a merger with Deutsche Boerse AG in late 2007, but the two companies couldn’t agree on a price, according to people familiar with the matter.

The aborted talks show how hungry the Chicago company was to combine the biggest derivatives-trading operations in the U.S. and Europe. Even though the discussions fell apart, CME still has ambitions for world-wide dominance in derivatives. Get the full story »

Nasdaq, ICE consider bid on NYSE

Nasdaq OMX and IntercontinentalExchange are in talks to team up on a possible bid for NYSE Euronext, in an attempt to break up the Big Board’s deal with Deutsche Boerse, the New York Times’ Dealbook reported on Friday. Get the full story »

Brazilian exchange operator not in talks with CME

Brazilian exchange operator BM&FBovespa is not in merger talks with Chicago-based exchange operator CME Group but expects their partnership to expand in the near future, BM&FBovespa Chief Executive Edemir Pinto said on Friday.

His remarks followed a frenzied week of merger announcements by exchanges around the world as bourses move to strengthen ties in the face of tough competition at home. Get the full story »

U.S. flash crash panel calls for market overhaul

U.S. regulators should stem the growing tide of anonymous stock-trading and consider charging high-frequency traders fees for the disproportionate amount of orders they send into the marketplace, said a panel of experts advising how to avoid another “flash crash.”

The report laying out 14 recommendations for the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission contains some fresh ideas. Taken together, they would significantly overhaul the high-speed market that has gone increasingly electronic in the last decade. Get the full story »

Nasdaq, ICE talks reportedly heating up

Nasdaq OMX Group and IntercontinentalExchange Inc. could possibly strike a partnership and talks between the U.S.-based exchange operators are at a “critical stage,” Fox Business Network reported Thursday. Get the full story »

U.S. bourses not rushing to merge, analysts say

U.S. exchanges may not rush to strike deals to compete with the combined Deutsche Boerse AG and NYSE Euronext, even as the sector is almost certain to consolidate further over the long term.

In particular, analysts cast doubt on a report that CME Group would try to buy NYSE Euronext — operator of the New York Stock Exchange — away from its German suitor, which this week offered to pay $10.2 billion for the icon of U.S. capitalism. Get the full story »

Nasdaq, IntercontinentalExchange may team up

Nasdaq OMX Group is scrambling to respond to Deutsche Boerse AG’s $10.2 billion takeover of NYSE Euronext, and may team up with IntercontinentalExchange Inc, Fox Business Network said.

Nasdaq has hired an investment bank and has discussed launching a joint bid for NYSE with Chicago-based CME Group, the report said. The deal to team up with ICE had not gone to Nasdaq’s board of directors as of Tuesday, the report said.

It was unclear whether the report was referring to a potential Nasdaq merger with ICE, or to a possible joint bid for NYSE. Get the full story »

CME’s Duffy rejects CFTC user fee proposal

CME Group Inc. Executive Chairman Terry Duffy said a plan to allow U.S. futures regulators to charge user fees would harm U.S. exchanges trying to compete globally.

The proposal “could put us at the biggest disadvantage we’ve ever seen,” Duffy told reporters after a hearing in Washington. Get the full story »

New York and German exchanges sign off on deal

The parent company of the New York Stock Exchange says it has agreed to combine with the operator of the Frankfurt stock exchange, Deutsche Boerse.

The deal announced Tuesday will create the world’s largest financial exchange owner. Deutsche Boerse shareholders will own 60 percent of the new company. Shareholders of NYSE Euronext Inc. will own the rest. Get the full story »

CME Group says it’s focusing on ‘organic growth’

CME Group's offices at 30 S. Wacker Drive in Chicago, Feb 14, 2011. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune)

CME Group Inc. said it remains committed to “organic growth” in derivatives trade, following speculation that the Chicago company may launch a rival bid for NYSE Euronext.

CME, one of the world’s largest operators of futures and options markets, was reported Monday to be exploring a possible offer for the Big Board parent, which is in advanced merger talks with Germany’s Deutsche Börse AG, with Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. as a potential partner in such a deal.

NYSE Euronext owns the NYSE Liffe derivatives market, which is strong in Europe. Get the full story »

Ten dealers sign onto CME’s rate clearing service

CME Group Inc., the biggest U.S. futures exchange operator, said on Monday that 10 top swaps dealers signed up to be founding members of CME’s interest-rate swaps clearing service.

The firms that signed a non-binding term sheet for the service were BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc, Goldman Sachs Group, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Morgan Stanley, Nomura and UBS, CME said. It provided no details on terms of the agreement. Get the full story »

CME Group said to be interested in NYSE

Chicago-based CME Group is considering horning in on merger talks between the New York Stock Exchange owner and a stock exchange in Germany, according to reports.

CME, which employs about 2,000 in Chicago, is considering a strategic response to the impending takeover of the Big Board by Deutsche Boerse AG. Get the full story »

Hong Kong exchange could consider CBOE merger

(Tim Boyle/Bloomberg)

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. may knock on the doors of the tech-heavy Nasdaq or Chicago’s CBOE as the world’s most valuable stock exchange operator eyes a partner amid a frenzy of merger activity engulfing the sector.

Despite their geographical proximity, political, economic and organizational challenges make any potential marriage between the HKEx and the Shanghai or Shenzhen stock exchanges difficult.

“If I am the Hong Kong exchange, I would be trying to approach the bigger U.S. stock exchanges like Nasdaq right now,” said Ronald Wan, managing director of the Hong Kong unit of China Merchants Securities. Get the full story »