Deutsche Boerse boss wants London Stock Exchange merger to bring Anglo-Saxon spirit to Europe
Deutsche Boerse chief executive Carsten Kengeter wants his company’s merger with the London Stock Exchange to help introduce a more Anglo-Saxon attitude to Europe.
Kengeter also spoke of the “urgent” need for the merger in order for Europe to retain its global significance in the face of intensifying competition from the United States and Asia.
“Capital markets provide an excellent way for everyone to share in the fruits of global growth,” he said, speaking at an event in London this evening. “This is a message, of course, which has been better understood here in the UK and in the Anglo-Saxon world than, in general, in continental Europe.
“Indeed, bringing the rest of Europe close to a more entrepreneurial capital markets culture of an Anglo-Saxon conviction is one of the objectives of our merger project.”
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Kengeter also said global competition for financial centres has “intensified significantly, and that competition will only get more ferocious in years to come”.
“Financial centres in the US seem set for a comeback,” he said. “True, we have yet to see just how sustainable this renaissance turns out to be, but in the short-run at least, the US could profit from a new wave of deregulation and fiscal expansion.
“Adding to these globally competitive pressures, financial centres in Asia have grown at an absolutely relentless pace over recent years.”
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Kengeter was speaking at Deutsche Boerse’s annual reception at Merchant Taylors’ Hall in Canada.
The London Stock Exchange Group and Deutsche Boerse agreed a £21bn merger in early 2016. Subject to approval from the European Commission and other regulators, the deal is due to complete in the first half of this year.