Gov't Considering One-Stop Financial Trading Shop

[Mulboyne]

FT: Japan proposes bourses merger to fuel growth
The Japanese government is proposing to merge the country's major exchanges to make the bourses more competitive in Asia. The plan was unveiled as part of the government's growth strategy, which the ruling Democratic party hopes will rescue Japan from chronic deflation and double the country's long-term real growth rate to 2 per cent by 2020. The proposal, to be implemented by the end of fiscal 2013, could eventually see the merger of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Osaka Securities Exchange, the Tokyo Financial Exchange and the Tokyo Commodities Exchange. The government said it wanted to create a "new financial nation" to "rejuvenate and develop" the markets' capabilities and make Japan an Asian financial centre that attracts money from around the world and "opens up the country"...One obstacle has been finding a way for three different bodies - the Financial Services Agency, the trade ministry and the agriculture ministry - to oversee one exchange....The proposal also raises the question of whether the exchange would invest in a "multi-asset" trading system, a recent trend that would be beneficial for market participants. However, the TSE, OSE and Tocom have all recently invested or are investing large sums into separate platforms...more...