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Finance minister Zalm has granted the requested declarations of no-objection and exchange licence to allow NYSE and Euronext to merge. NYSE and Euronext have indicated to step up the finalisation of the merger process.
As made public earlier in the process, the documents contain conditions which need to be respected by the merging partners. The conditions concern, among others, the prevention of spill-over of US laws, regulations and interpretations thereof; and the safeguard of the local responsibility for the Amsterdam stock exchange.
Besides that, the declarations of no-objection allow for the possibility to sanction the violation of the conditions. These sanctions are laid down in the so-called ‘escalation ladder’. This ladder provides for the possibility to give formal instructions, induce penalties or fines and, in case of spill-over of US laws, regulations and interpretations thereof, to trigger the activities of the Foundation by the Minister of Finance. The Foundation will then, in order to prevent the spill-over, take over the shares of Euronext NV or Euronext Amsterdam NV. The Minister will consult his European colleagues, the supervisors and the boards of NYSE and Euronext and of the Foundation before triggering the activities of the Foundation.
