As the dust has started to settle on the ASX/SFE merger, can you tell me about your experiences of the integration process so far?
As I discussed at the recent AGM, we have defined three phases to the merger; the first is nearing completion with the second to take place in the first half of next year and the third ongoing from there. The first phase involved all the 'visible' aspects of the merger like consolidating office space and the rationalisation of human resources (see story page 2). That has gone extremely well, if anything a little quicker than foreseen, and better, which I think is more important. The two management teams have worked very well together from day one, which has made my task easier.
We have got an imminent re-badging: from December the organisation will become known as Australian Securities Exchange, which I think is symbolically very...