By Della Hasselle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — The New York Stock Exchange may soon have German owners, according to several reports.
Deutsche Borse AG is in the late stages of a deal with the "Big Board," which may result the world’s largest financial market. The European acquisition would merge the two companies and place them in 14 countries throughout Europe, the New York Times reported.
The move would not only embrace newer kinds of 24-hour instant trading that aren't limited to the exchange floor, but would also symbolize the fading importance of New York City in the total world financial market.
"New York is going to be important, but it's not the financial center. Capital markets are everywhere now," Michael LaBranche, CEO of LaBranche & Co told the Wall Street Journal.
The NYSE headquarters would stay in New York under the new agreement, but Deutsche Borse would own up to 60 percent of the entire company, according to reports.
The deal would be expected to save more than $441 million by merging technology systems as well as the companies. Fewer than 100 jobs would be lost by the merger in New York, and less than 1,000 would be lost in general, an anonymous source told the Times.
While the potential new deal reflects the direction of business globalization, the deal could see resistance in New York, where traders feel strongly about maintaining the city's status as the world financial top dog, according to reports.
Some traders even suggest avoiding use of the word Deutsche or the acronym NYSE in order ease the tension that could be felt in the city, the Journal reported.
"I wish them luck. I hope they know what they are doing," stock trader Alan "Ace" Greenberg, a former Bear Stearns Cos. chairman who now is vice-chairman emeritus at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co, told the Journal.
Those close to the deal are careful to say that there is no agreement yet. The German company has also made previous attempts to acquire the Big Board, once in 2008 and again in 2009.
