Major Stock Market Merger is Dead

(CN) - Federal prosecutors sought dismissal of an antitrust lawsuit and settlement agreement with Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext, as the two stock exchange owners will not go through with their proposed merger.

"The lawsuit and proposed settlement are no longer necessary since the parties have formally abandoned their plans to merge," the Justice Department said in a statement.

They gave up on the deal after the European Commission said it would give too much derivatives trading to one entity.

Federal prosecutors say the Justice Department's antitrust division and the European Commission "communicated extensively throughout the course of their respective investigations, with frequent contact between the leadership and investigative staffs, aided by waivers provided by the merging parties."

The Justice Department approvedthe merger in December on the condition that a Deutsche Boerse unit, International Securities Exchange Holdings Inc., would sell its 31.5 percent stake in Direct Edge Holdings, the fourt- largest stock exchange operator in the United States, among other restrictions. The settlement resolved an antitrust suit filed on the same day in District of Columbia Federal Court.

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