EXCHANGE NEWSWIRE, 30 June 2011
LSE-TMX merger was terminated after both exchanges determined that they would not receive sufficient shareholder support to meet the 67% threshold for the merger to proceed. Only 54% out of 70% of TMX’s shareholders who voted by proxy had approved the merger, resulting in the cancellation of the deal.
LSE’s dropping of the TMX bid raises speculation that LSE is now a takeover target by NDAQ, which had previously bid for LSE in 2006. Other bids for LSE are also speculated to come from cash-rich companies such as SGX or HKEx, or Middle East investors Borse Dubai and Qatar Investment Authority which hold 21% and 15.1% of LSE respectively. Numis Securities analysts interviewed by WSJ commented that “given the failure of the TMX deal, we believe it will be difficult for the LSE to defend against a significant premium”.
TMX: Maple Group expressed hope that it “may now engage in a positive dialogue with the TMX board”, and Maple Group representative Luc Bertrand, vice-chairman of the National Bank of Canada said that the Maple plan which will create a “vertical silo” represents “the best way forward for TMX Group and the Canadian capital markets”. The bid will require approval from TMX shareholders as well as the federal competition bureau.
LSE: Borsa Italiana appointed its new Board of Directors for the period of 2011- 2014, which appointed Massimo Tononi as Chairman of the company, Janet Cohen as Vice President, and Raffele Jerusalmi as CEO.
NYX: WorldCrops Ltd. said that NYSE Liffe should produce a CFTC-style report to “clear the deck” regarding how much speculators are contributing to record food prices. Editor of WorldCrops’ website said that “it is incumbent on an exchange, particularly in soft commodities, wherever there is concern about food prices, to be as transparent as possible”.
SGX will launch continuous trading for it securities market from August 1. The market will be open for trading from 9am to 5pm Singapore time and the one-hour lunch break will be eliminated.
Bursa Malaysia received a non-action letter from the CFTC, which allows the offer and sale of Bursa’s futures contracts based on the FTSE Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) in the US. US asset managers may trade the contracts through a futures commission merchant that is a member on Bursa, or one which has established an omnibus account with a clearing member on Bursa.
SET selected Cinnober to provide the Thai exchange with trading, market data and surveillance systems, which will go live in 2012 for equities and 2013 for derivatives.
Hong Kong Government tightened its disclosure regime of listed stocks as part of the Securities and Futures (Amendment) Bill 2011. Listed companies will now have to publicly disclose price-sensitive information as soon as reasonably practical after being made aware of it.
SEC proposed that swap dealers disclose more information regarding material risks, incentives, conflicts of interest and central clearing regulations to customers, and to provide additional protection for clients such as pension funds and municipalities. Public comments on the 200-plus page proposal will be welcome until end-August.
Provided By: Equity Research Desk, www.erdesk.com
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