Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext have offered to cap fees on trading in their European derivatives contracts for three years in a last-ditch effort to get their $9 billion merger cleared in the European Union.
The latest offer came after a first set of concessions made in November failed to address the European Commission's competition concerns while opponents have criticised the second batch of proposals offered last week as only incremental adjustments. The Commission has expressed concerns about the merged entity's more than 90 percent share of the exchange-listed futures market and possible barriers to new players.
"In addition to the submitted remedy proposal, both companies expressed their commitment to maintain the current level of their published standard fees for their European derivatives contracts for a period of three years," the exchanges said in a statement on Tuesday. Almunia told a news conference earlier on Tuesday that a decision on the deal was possible by the end of January. The Commission is scheduled to decide by February 9 whether to approve the merger.