The announcement by the New York Stock Exchange concerning a takeover of Euronext's trans-European stock exchange platform which is likely to create a vast transatlantic stock exchange market represents a new departure as far as takeovers and mergers in the financial markets are concerned.

The competent authorities may allow the requirement against a written exchange‐traded option to be equal to the margin required by the exchange if they are fully satisfied that it provides an accurate measure of the risk associated with the option and that it is at least equal to the capital requirement against an option that would result from a calculation made using the method set out in the remainder of this Annex or applying the internal models method described in Annex V. The competent authorities may also allow the capital requirement for an OTC option cleared by a clearing house recognised by them to be equal to the margin required by the clearing house if they are fully satisfied that it provides an accurate measure of the risk ass ...[+++]ociated with the option and that it is at least equal to the capital requirement for an OTC option that would result from a calculation made using the method set out in the remainder of this Annex or applying the internal models method described in Annex V. In addition they may allow the requirement on a bought exchange‐traded or OTC option to be the same as that for the instrument underlying it, subject to the constraint that the resulting requirement does not exceed the market value of the option. The requirement against a written OTC option shall be set in relation to the instrument underlying it.

they are listed on at least one regulated market in a Member State or on a stock exchange in a third country provided that the exchange is recognised by the competent authorities of the relevant Member State;

The competent authorities may allow the capital requirement for an exchange‐traded future to be equal to the margin required by the exchange if they are fully satisfied that it provides an accurate measure of the risk associated with the future and that it is at least equal to the capital requirement for a future that would result from a calculation made using the method set out in this Annex or applying the internal models method described in Annex V. The competent authorities may also allow the capital requirement for an OTC derivatives contract of the type referred to in this point cleared by a clearing house recognised by them to be ...[+++] equal to the margin required by the clearing house if they are fully satisfied that it provides an accurate measure of the risk associated with the derivatives contract and that it is at least equal to the capital requirement for the contract in question that would result from a calculation made using the method set out in the this Annex or applying the internal models method described in Annex V.

In this regard, the characteristics, structure and role of specialised stock exchanges and secondary stock exchange lists for high-growth companies should be re-examined together with factors determining investor appetite for venture backed companies. // A continuous cycle of risk capital should be ensured

Compared to capital raised on stockmarkets, convergence of interest rates is less narrowly focussed as it covers several financial markets and it is not distorted by privatisation programmes or cyclical fluctuations in stock markets.