New mergers will be on the cards for Europe’s derivatives markets this year, but they are likely to be of a smaller scale than the mega-mergers proposed over the last 12 months.
A key driver for derivatives exchange consolidation was removed on 1 February when transatlantic market operator NYSE Euronext, and Germany’s trading infrastructure firm Deutsche Börse, announced that the European Commission (EC) was prohibiting their merger.
“Anything else big is likely to draw the same ruling from the European Commission,” says Fred Ponzo, founder and managing partner, at consultancy GreySpark Partners.
“Effectively they have put a stop to large mergers in Europe.”
The deal’s failure has created something of a power vacuum. Other venues will now try to expand through partnership deals, making themselves too big to be a target for either protagonist and to expand their...