????但這些計劃最終都以失敗告終。由于衍生產(chǎn)品市場可能出現(xiàn)壟斷，歐洲監(jiān)管機構果斷予以否決。在美國，監(jiān)管部門對納斯達克和紐交所的合并也不買賬，原因是合二為一后的交易所可能主導美國股票發(fā)行市場。

????可行的只有紐交所和洲際交易所的合并。兩家交易所的業(yè)務沒有重疊，洲際交易所既沒有美國股票交易平臺，在歐洲衍生產(chǎn)品市場上的份額也不大。洲際交易所和納斯達克聯(lián)手的原因是它提出的收購方案要能和德意志交易所100億美元的收購報價相抗衡。

????洲際交易所上周四發(fā)布的公告顯示，所有監(jiān)管問題已得到解決，它已經(jīng)得到了它真正想要的東西，那就是進入歐洲衍生產(chǎn)品市場。接下來，洲際交易所沒有浪費一點兒時間，隨即發(fā)布另一份公告，宣布它設在倫敦的交易所將開始為NYSE Liffe提供結算服務。洲際交易所首席執(zhí)行官杰夫?斯普雷徹在上周四的電話會議上表示，Liffe嘗試自行開展結算完全是個“令人愉快的局面”。此舉將消除所有“交易所完整性問題上的不確定性”并能讓洲際交易所和紐交所在利率衍生產(chǎn)品市場的注意力“非常迅速地匯聚在一起”。

????但這并非“令人愉快的局面”，這筆交易成行的主要原因也在于此。與紐交所合并后，洲際交易所將成為歐洲衍生產(chǎn)品市場中的主力，因為屆時它將既能進行交易結算，也能進行交易處理。特別是在利率掉期和信用違約掉期領域，這兩項業(yè)務將很快在洲際交易所上馬。它在美國和歐洲都不需要股票交易平臺。洲際交易所的出價很高，和紐交所上周三收盤價相比有35%的溢價。原因不是該公司想掌管新澤西州的一批服務器和華爾街上華麗的電視演播室，而是洲際交易所認為自己將成為不斷增長的衍生產(chǎn)品市場中的主角。

????面對如何處理紐交所其他業(yè)務的問題，斯普雷徹言辭閃爍。不過他確實提到洲際交易所正在考慮剝離紐交所的歐洲股票業(yè)務。預計這項計劃將在雙方簽署合并協(xié)議后很快實施，而通過監(jiān)管機構審查要占去明年的大部分時間。隨后，洲際交易所可能對紐交所的其他業(yè)務進行拆分。可能會有很多規(guī)模不一的交易所希望得到紐交所的股票交易業(yè)務，其中包括倫敦證券交易所（the London Stock Exchange）這樣的大型機構，此外還有BATS和DirectEdge這樣的輕量級證交所。

????因此，雖然表面上對紐交所的爭奪已經(jīng)結束，但實際上它很可能還會繼續(xù)下去。

????No one would win this round. European regulators, of course, crushed the Deutsche Borse deal due to the derivatives monopoly. On this side of the Atlantic, US regulators weren't too enthused about the idea of combining the Nasdaq with the NYSE as the combined company would dominate the US equity listing market.

????The one part of the deal that did work was combining the NYSE and ICE. The business lines of the two companies didn't overlap as ICE had neither an equity trading platform in the US nor a big presence in the European derivatives market. The reason ICE teamed up with Nasdaq was because it needed to make a big bid to counter Deutsche Borse's $10 billion bid. The deal allowed ICE to keep the European derivatives business and immediately hive off the NYSE's equity trading and listing business.

????Thursday's announcement solves all the regulatory problems and gives ICE what it truly wants – access to the European derivatives market. The company didn't waste any time, issuing a separate statement in addition to the merger announcement noting that ICE's clearinghouse in London would begin clearing trades for NYSE Liffe. Jeff Sprecher, ICE's chief executive, said on the conference call Thursday that it was "just a happy circumstance" that Liffe is trying to develop its own clearing opportunities. Such a move would remove any "uncertainty around the completion of a potential clearinghouse" and allow the two companies to "very quickly turn [their] attention together" on the interest rate derivatives space.

????"Happy circumstance," it wasn't – it was pretty much why the deal happened. The combination makes ICE a powerhouse in the European derivatives space as it will be able to both clear and facilitate trades, most notably interest rate swaps and credit default swaps, which will begin moving onto the exchange soon. ICE has no use for an equities platform in either the US or Europe. It paid a high price – 35% premium to where the NYSE last traded Wednesday - because it thinks it can become a major player in the growing derivatives space, not because it wants to babysit a bunch of servers in New Jersey and manage a glorified TV studio on Wall Street.

????When asked what he will do with the other parts of the NYSE, Sprecher was vague. He did note that the company was mulling a spinoff of the NYSE's European equities business. That should be expected as soon as the ink is dry on the merger agreement, which should take most of next year to clear the regulatory gauntlet. Similar spin-offs of the rest of the NYSE will likely follow. There are a number of large and small exchanges that could want NYSE's equity trading unit, from big players like the London Stock Exchange to smaller ones like BATS and DirectEdge.

????So while it looks like the fight for control of the floor of the NYSE is over, it is most likely still on.