EU: Brussels to formally veto Deutsche Boerse LSE merger

London Stock Exchange Group’s proposed merger with Deutsche Boerse will be blocked by European Commission antitrust regulators, according to reports on Wednesday.

A veto will be published within a matter of days, multiple sources told Reuters, scuppering plans to create Europe’s biggest exchange. LSE, Deutsche Boerse and the EC all declined to comment.

If accurate, the EC’s rejection comes twelve months after the UK and German bourses first announced plans to create powerhouse of trading in stocks, bonds and derivatives and post-trade services.

Britain’s vote to leave the European Union in June added complexity and threatened the tie-up early on.

Deutsche Boerse chairman Joachim Faber recently put the blame for the failed merger on Brexit.

There were also growing calls from German politicians that the headquarters be moved from London to Frankfurt because of Brexit – a concession most LSE executives did not wish to make.

More crucially, a demand from regulators that the LSE sell its Italian electronic-trading platform for bond and repo markets, MTS, was publicly ruled out by the UK exchange last month.

Full Content: Reuters

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