Source: Businessspectator
The Australian Stock Exchange is considering the possibility of merging with another bourse as international share markets continue to expand, The Australianreports.
ASX chief executive Robert Elstone told The Australianthat the merger topic was one of the major issues that company is presently discussing.
Mr Elstone said that the business models of stock exchanges in Hong Kong, Singapore and Germany were the most similar to ASX's model.
Mr Elstone told the newspaper that there was no deal underway at the present time. Mr Elstone's comments come after ASX chairman Maurice Newman drew shareholders' attention to the deals between other international bourses at the company's annual general meeting.
However, political hurdles needed to ensure that any merger deal between the ASX and an overseas bourse did not lower regulatory standards in Australia, Mr Elstone said.
Mr Elstone said the ASX had been approached by NASDAQ about acquiring its 30 per cent stake in the London Stock Exchange but added that the company would not buy a minority stake unless it paved the way for the ASX to acquire a controlling share of a particular bourse.
