Plain VanillaBig news from the clearing business. InterContinental Exchanges, ICE, has bought the majority of Holland Clearing House from ABN AMRO. The clearing house HCH has been created by ABN AMRO to clear the trades on TOM. ABN AMRO remains a minority shareholder.

End of June Euronext was spun off from ICE by an IPO. Apparently, the Atlanta based exchange didn’t sell Euronext to leave Europe. With buying Holland Clearing House it’s back in the game in Europe. It supports TOM in their battle against Euronext.

It isn’t the only US institution backing TOM. Nasdaq OMX is the biggest shareholder in TOM. It owns 25% and has an option to buy an additional 25,1% in TOM. As long as both American exchanges are committed to supporting TOM, the Dutch option market could be used as bridgehead for the rest of Europe. It makes sense to work with a new exchange without too much old expenses (buildings, employees).

Jack