Nyse Euronext and Deutsche Börse are in merger talks, fresh on the news that the LSE and TMX are in advanced stages of a merger. After a few years of inactivity it looks like the Exchange consolidation has found new legs. Is this good or bad news for the investors?

Certainly the creation of huge international exchanges should have a beneficial impact on costs and efficiency, providing the Exchanges can integrate their technology, operations and management. We should also be seeing an impact of economy of scale, making the investment landscape and portfolios broader and deeper, with some risk reduction.

What about the MTFs? Surely as the Exchanges regain their position, which have been briefly threatened, introduce a greater depth of service to their business, the MTFs will lose their attraction. After all, the major Exchanges can now rightly say that they are operating as fast and as technology proficient as any MTF. So what do they now offer or have we seen the begining of the end of the MTF challenge?

Whatever the future holds, it now looks like a market dominated by two large International Stock Exchanges. Which has the better deal?

The LSE and TMX Group looks more imaginative and has more growth potential with less overlap of business, operations and technology. Any merger is more likely to be sucessful with least cost and fuss.

However, the Nyse Euronext and Deutsche Börse is a bit more challenging with many difficult hurdles to overcome. Assuming these challenges are met the potential is huge. But this deal looks less exciting and although we are short of details at this stage, it's doubtful it will acheive the potential return and impact the market, as the LSE and TMX Group deal.

Exciting times though!