BRUSSELS, MAR 20: The Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels bourses said on Monday they would merge to form the largest stock exchange among the 11 euro-zone countries with a market capitalisation of more than two trillion euros ($1.93 trillion).According to published reports, Paris would be the centre for trade in blue-chip stocks, Amsterdam would handle futures and derivatives trading, and Brussels would become the hub for small- and medium-sized companies.Belgian Finance Minister Didier Reynders, in an interview with newspaper Le Soir on Monday, said he hoped the merger would quickly be expanded to include Madrid and Milan."The agreement has a goal of expanding past the three bourses," Reynders told Le Soir in an interview. "A 'four-way bourse' should be very quickly cemented due to the willingness of Luxembourg authorities to join the nucleus.""In a second stage, Spain and Italy could do the same, "Reynders was quoted as saying. "Euronext will be the second bourse market after London. But if Madrid is added, it will become the top rung among European markets."Although each of the three bourses would have a trading speciality, Reynders said clients would trade off a single platform. "The client will see the markets on a single Screen," Reynders told Le Soir. "He will handle transactions on whatever market without having to know if it's Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam which is in charge."The merger comes amid growing signs that a wider alliance of eight European bourses was failing. The eight bourses - including London, Frankfurt, Milan, Madrid and Zurich, as well as Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels - in late September had announced plans to form a pan-European market via a common electronic interface. The plans, however, fell short of original plans to create a single trading platform.Brussels bourse Chief Executive Olivier Lefebvre has said previously that a further alliance was needed to improve the efficiency of clearing and settlement processes - which remain highly fragmented across Europe.
