In Europe, we’re seeing exchange consolidation, mergers and acquisitions.  One of the interesting situations is Boerse Berlin buying into Equiduct, which itself is based on the Easdaq exchange that was created back in the late 1990s.

Despite being called “Deutsche Boerse”, that one isn’t “The German Exchange” – there are still multiple stock exchanges in Germany that continue to compete against each other.  Back around 1990, Frankfurt Stock Exchange was only the Number Two exchange in Germany – Dusseldorf was the biggest exchange.  Frankfurt set out to change from being a floor-based regional German exchange to being a world-class major exchange that could compete on an equal footing against the London and Paris exchanges.

Two key people set Frankfurt Stock Exchange on the path that would eventually turn it into today’s Deutsche Boerse Group.  One was Michael Waldeck, one of the exchange’s joint-MDs and a lawyer, who had the vision to see the path ahead.  The other was the head of technology, market data, indices, etc – another visionary called Artur Fischer.

Guess who is now executive director in charge of strategy at Boerse Berlin!