The London Stock Exchange urged Britain's Competition Commission to speed up its inquiry into whether to approve any takeover bids for Europe's biggest stock exchange, the Financial Times reports today.
The LSE said that delaying a final decision until mid-November, as regulators have suggested, could have a 'detrimental' effect on its operations, shareholders and customers.
The Commission announced last week that it was extending the deadline for its final ruling on the implications of a takeover of the LSE to November 7.
According to the business daily, Catherine Johnson, head of the LSE legal department, wrote to the Commission this month asking for a decision by mid-October at the latest.
'We would strongly urge the Commission not to take the full eight-week extension' which is available for reaching a final decision on the bids, Johnson wrote. 'The inquiry has caused uncertainty for all parties involved over a long period, but in particular for the LSE as a potential target,' she added.
The watchdog said in preliminary findings last month that a merger between the LSE and Germany's Deutsche Boerse or the pan-European market Euronext would 'substantially lessen competition'.
Meanwhile, Australia's Macquarie Bank announced last week that it might join other investors to bid for the LSE.
