Asia: As West struggles with stock exchange mergers, Asia finds success

Some analysts see Asia as the new frontier for the consolidation of the globe’s stock exchanges, despite the West’s varying degrees of success in the field. According to this report, several approved mergers in the market are displaying the benefits of such consolidation, which include “a wider range of products and trading platforms, extended trading hours and higher trading volumes.” A $1.7 billion merger between Tokyo Stock Exchange and rival Osaka Securities Exchange was approved last August, as well as a domestic merger in India between two smaller stock exchanges (Bangalore Stock Exchange and Madras Stock Exchange). Additionally, a valued bid of $2.2 billion earned Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing the winning acquisition of London Metal Exchange, beating out other global bidders. As Asia continues to see successes within the industry, the West has not seen the same – the European Commission rejected the proposed merger between Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext last year, the third time the German stock exchange has tried and failed to enter the pan-European market. According to this report, there have been about $50 billion worth of failed merger attempts since last October in the stock exchange sector.