Although the exchanges have offered a range of remedies, including spinning off some of their overlapping contracts and partially opening up Deutsche Börse's clearing house, these measures have so far failed to appease Europe's antitrust department, known as DG Competition, according to reports.
Between now and then, the exchanges have, broadly speaking, five potential courses of action.
Lobby like hell
The European Union Competition Commission case team does not have the final word. After the case team has passed its findings up the chain of command to Competition Commissioner Joaquín Almunia, he will work horizontally with the other 27 EU Commissioners who will review his preliminary report. Only then does the Commission decide whether or not to pass the deal. The exchanges could, and no doubt will, lobby the 27 EU Commissioners, as well as heads of EU Member States
Pull the deal
One common tactical move by companies facing a rejection is to withdraw the deal notification before the Commission is able formally to reject it. If NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Börse pursue this course of action, the Commission is not required to publish its case against the deal, which would comprise a detailed and extensive analysis of the merger and the exchanges' respective businesses.
Resubmit, sort of
If the deal is formally rejected, or if the exchanges pull the deal, they may resubmit their notification at a later date. However, there would be little point in notifying exactly the same deal. To secure a different outcome, the proposed tie-up would have to have changed materially in one of two respects: the nature, size and/or scope of the businesses would have to have changed through some kind of restructure or divestment.
The end of Liffe
At this late stage, the exchanges have likely passed their deadline to submit new remedies. However, because the Commission has the power and discretion to entertain proposed additional remedies under exceptional circumstances, there may still be time for the exchanges to make the grand gesture of divesting one of their derivatives franchises - Eurex or Liffe.
Appeal
If the Commission formally rejects the deal, the exchanges have recourse to the General Court - formerly the European Court of First Instance - which has overthrown the Commission's merger decisions in the past.
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