FN: Turquoise speech stirs up NYSE-Börse monopoly debate

05 October 2011

Turquoise, the alternative trading platform majority owned by the London Stock Exchange, has hit out against the proposed merger between NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Börse, arguing that Europe's competition commission must act immediately to address the concerns created by the mega deal.

Adrian Farnham, chief executive of Turquoise, said that Europe's policymakers cannot rely on regulation alone to remedy the competition issues created by the merger. He said: "It is no secret that we have asked the competition commission to use the review of the deal to open up the industry to competition. This must be done now, it cannot be left to the review of MiFID or the European Market Infrastructure Regulation – these regulations get nobbled during the policy making process."

The LSE, along with other stock exchanges, would be impacted if European policymakers choose to remedy competition concerns through new regulation. Farnham said that using regulation to address the concerns posed by the deal "could make the position worse".

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