Nymex agrees to buy 10% of Canada`s Montreal Exchange

Date: Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Author: Bloomberg.com

From Bloomberg.com: the New York Mercantile Exchange, the world's largest energy market, will acquire a 10 percent equity stake in Canada's Montreal Exchange Inc., the exchange said.  No price was released for the investment in Canada's only financial derivatives exchange, Nymex said today in a statement.  The acquisition includes a joint-venture to develop over-the-counter and exchange-traded Canadian energy products, Nymex said. The New York exchange will also be allowed to nominate a member to the Montreal Exchange's board of directors.   `A plan to expand their OTC business in Canada looks like a natural move,'' said Robert Webb, a finance professor at the University of Virginia and a former trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. ``The actions of Nymex underscore the importance of clearing at futures exchanges.''