The European Commission is reported to have reduced the scope of its investigation into the planned merger between the Deutsche Börse and the London Stock Exchange, which was put forward for approval at the end of August of this year (see EUROPE 11610).
According to the Financial Times, which reported the information, the European institution's investigation is now focusing solely on the market for the clearing of trades in derivatives.
In September, when it announced its decision to open an in-depth investigation into the merger, the Commission said that it had concerns that the transaction would remove competition in several areas (bonds, derivatives and repurchases) and may harm the competitors of both stock exchange operators on the post-sales market, such as guarantee management, settlement and deposit services.
The Commission also expressed concerns at a potential reduction in competition on the markets for pension operations, German shares, exchange-traded products and listed funds (see EUROPE 11634).
For its part, Agefi reports that the President of the ECB, Mario Draghi, spoke last week to the Commission's negotiator in chief on Brexit, Michel Barnier, regarding concerns related to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)