European Finance : London Calling !

The Paris Stock Exchange is facing a slow down since the transfer of NYSE Euronext’s powerful computers from France to the United Kingdom. 

In fact, it confirms its loss of influence at the expense of London.

The computers, initially located in a Parisian suburb were moved to Basildon, Essex, east of London. The one-way ticket cost no less than 150 million euros. The computers are now housed in a 5 000 square metres rented office. The space is ten times more than what is really required, raising fears among Nyse Euronext Technologies Unions that the new centre may eventually turn into a hub for other French traders.

Faster, stronger, cheaper

The recent move will help improve market activity and most importantly, speed up the process. It will enable NYSE Euronext to gain time on shares that have to be bought and sold in fractions of a second.

Traditional stock exchanges regularly deal with faster and cheaper alternative platforms, for example CHI-X, Bats or Turquoise. These competitors are rapidly gaining ground on traditional financial markets.

The English domination

Several French trading companies such as Tradition, Cheuvreux (Groupe Credit Agricole’s broker) or even Exane (BNP Paribas’ broker) have already crossed the English Channel. They realise London’s strategic importance in the global market.

The decision to mark the 10th institutional Trading & Technology Summit ‘TradeTech’ in the British capital also highlights how the city is drawing more attention. The forum, dedicated to high-level discussions on the major challenges facing the equity trading market, was initially organized at La Defense, the French business district.

Similarly, Paris fell fives places to eleventh position in the latest global financial markets rankings, lagging behind Denmark.

This disappointing position led French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde to sound a rallying call, but the question remains if it will it be heard?

A report by Alexandra Renard and Mounia Ben Aïssa.