Duncan Niederauer, chief executive of NYSE Euronext, has admitted he misjudged European antitrust authorities' approach to his exchange's attempted tie-up with Deutsche Börse, saying there was only "a glimmer of hope" the deal would succeed.
His comments are the first sign the German and US groups have all but given up hope that European politicians will approve the deal after Brussels competition officials blocked it this month. That decision – backed by Joaquín Almunia, EU competition commissioner – was based on a view that the combination would create a dominant player in derivatives markets in Europe, stifling competition.
Of the 27 EU commissioners who must make a final call on the proposed deal by February 1, only about six are understood to sympathise with the exchange groups' arguments: that trading both on and off exchange is a global market, so a European concentration in some on-exchange areas is the wrong basis for a decision. "I misjudged the process”, Mr Niederauer said, referring to the antitrust authorities' analysis of the markets in which the two exchanges' derivatives platforms operate.
Mr Niederauer's comments come amid an intense lobbying campaign by NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Börse to convince EU commissioners and other decision-makers that the antitrust authorities' definition of the market was flawed.
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