Head of NYSE Euronext hits out at EU tax
The chief executive of NYSE Euronext, which is pursuing a $9bn (£5.6bn) merger with Deutsche Boerse, yesterday urged European lawmakers to step back from the idea of a financial transaction tax, saying it would encourage regulatory arbitrage.
Duncan Niederauer said the proposed levy on financial transactions would force companies to “behave in an extraterritorial way”.
Niederauer was commenting as the group announced a 54 per cent hike in quarterly profit to $186m, which it put down to strong trading and technology sales.
He said derivatives trading operating income was up 38 per cent to $129m, share trading rose 54 per cent to $155m, while data and systems sales improved 29 per cent to $31m.
NYSE Group total revenue was up 20 per cent from a year ago to $1.3bn, while operating expenses fell one per cent to $416m.
“Our strong third-quarter results benefited from unseasonably strong trading volumes,” said Niederauer.
The results came as the transatlantic exchange group continues its talks with the European competition authorities in the hope of convincing them to back its planned merger with German operator.
“We are moving forward with our merger with Deutsche Boerse and have just recently conducted a hearing before the directorate general for Competition of the European Commission,” said Niederauer.