The London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Borse are considering a global alliance with Nasdaq, the US technology stock market, if their plan to create a unified Anglo-German equity market succeeds.
The aim would be a 24-hour market spanning the key US, Asian and European time zones, giving investors access to Asian, European and US stocks and initial public offerings (IPOs) through a single trading platform. It would mean the abandonment of Nasdaq's plan to expand separately into Europe.
The London exchange and Deutsche Borse were said last night to be getting closer to agreeing the terms of their merger. An announcement could come early next week.
That announcement is expected to include plans for the Nasdaq alliance. The final deal, which is far from being agreed among the three parties, could involve an exchange of shareholdings.
A merged Anglo-German equity market would be the alliance's European leg, bankers said. The Asian leg would be provided by Nasdaq Japan, a new market for IPOs being set up in Tokyo by Nasdaq.
Nasdaq's US market, the world's second biggest stock market by value, would be the third leg.
Bankers cautioned that the global alliance was very much "a vision" and that it faced difficulties in being realised.
These included the time it would take to build a trading platform, and Nasdaq's mutual status although the US market has received approval to become a commercial enterprise.
