The recently announced merger negotiations between NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse come after a series of pan-European and cross-ocean alliances (which took place over the last decade), and which are now raising the question "what comes next?" The German Stock Exchange is one of the three largest exchanges in the world, and if the deal with NYSE Euronext goes through, it will become the number one in the world. Under the circumstances, experts are turning their attention to a potential next step: will we see the creation of a huge stock exchange that would include Asia as well?

Some analysts think that we will see a huge alliance that would include an Asian exchange. Other opinions expect that in the future, there will only be a few "mega-exchanges", like the one that would result from the NYSE Euronext - Deutsche Boerse alliance, and next to them there would be several hundreds of smaller players.

* Recent moves on the world market

Prior to the announcement concerning the NYSE Euronext - Deutsche Boerse combination, that would merge the stock markets with the derivatives trading platforms of the US, Germany, France, Holland and Portugal, another information attracted the attention of players in the field: "London Stock Exchange" (LSE), which operates the markets of London and Milan, will acquire "TMX Group", which operates the exchanges of Toronto, Montreal and Calgary. The trade is valued at approximately 3.2 billion dollars.

Also this year, the Istanbul Stock Exchange, announced it was taking the steps towards a potential sale, after becoming a company (since it currently runs as a professional organization). What"s more, the management of the Ankara Exchange does not rule out a potential acquisition of a stake in another stock exchange.

Last autumn, Singapore Exchange Ltd., which runs the Singapore stock exchange, announced it wou