The Luxembourg Bourse (BdL) has signed a cross-access and membership agreement with Euronext, the European exchange to be formed from the merger of the Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris stock markets.
The agreement with BdL replaces the Benelux Cross Membership Agreement signed with Brussels and Amsterdam on 14 December 1998. The first phase of the agreement signals the continuation of reciprocal access rights between the original signatories.
Once the Euronext merger is complete, the agreement will be extended to the trading of all Euronext securities, including equities and bonds traded on Euronext Paris. It will allow BdL members to access the Euronext unified trading platform through remote membership links. In return, Euronext members will have access to the BdL trading platform.
Euronext says it has already signed up more than 100 remote members. Jean-Francois Theodore, chairman and CEO of Euronext says: "This first step towards closer co-operation illustrates the flexibility of the Euronext model."
In a seperate development, Theodore has publicly urged the London Stock Exchange to sit down for talks following the withdrawal of OM Gruppen's unwelcome takeover bid. An earlier approach to the LSE from Euronext was spurned in favour of a merger with Deutsche Borse - a deal which collapsed in the wake of the OM bid.
Theodore's overtures follow earlier reported comments by officials at US stock market Nasdaq, who called for "quick, orderly and friendly" talks to cement a transatlantic partnership. The LSE has yet to respond publicly as it steps up its search for a new CEO to replace Gavin Casey, who resigned in September.