McCreevy to tell EU stock exchanges they must allow competition

STOCK exchanges and clearing houses across the EU will be told to dismantle barriers and allow competition by Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy today.

He will give them a year to remove the obstacles that keep costs higher than they are in the US, and tell them they must agree to his code of practice and an 18-month timetable to achieve this. If they fail to make the changes, Mr McCreevy will tell them the European Commission will introduce regulations.

Studies show that many stock exchanges, including those in Germany, Italy and Spain operate legal and technical barriers to retain their national monopolies, which make the cost of trading cross-border expensive.