EU Opens Antitrust Probe into Nasdaq and Deutsche Börse Over Suspected Collusion on Financial Derivatives
The European Commission (EC) on November 6 announced that it has launched a formal antitrust investigation into U.S.-based Nasdaq and Germany’s Deutsche Börse, over suspicions of collusion involving financial derivative instruments.
In the economic and financial sector, financial derivatives are contracts whose value is derived from underlying assets such as stocks, bonds, commodities, or exchange rates, and are typically used for hedging risks or speculative gains.
In its statement, the EC said it had grounds to suspect that Nasdaq and Deutsche Börse “may have entered into agreements or coordinated their behavior to avoid competing” in the European Union (EU) market for certain financial derivative products.
EU Commissioner for Competition, Teresa Ribera, stated:
“We are investigating whether Deutsche Börse and Nasdaq colluded to avoid competition in the listing, trading, and clearing of certain derivative products,”
adding that competition rules are essential to ensure transparency and fairness among exchanges.
The announcement follows raids conducted by EU investigators at the headquarters of both companies in September, as part of the preliminary phase of the probe.
The European Commission emphasized that, if proven, such behavior could violate EU antitrust rules prohibiting companies from forming cartels or cooperating in ways that restrict competition and manipulate markets, as well as other EU regulations banning anti-competitive conduct.
The EC said it would carry out an in-depth investigation, calling the matter a priority, but stressed that the opening of a formal probe does not imply any predetermined outcome.
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