Briefly: JASDAQ-OSE merger now likely

The Jasdaq Securities Exchange and the Osaka Securities Exchange will likely reach a merger agreement this summer after JASDAQ ended its earlier reluctance to proceed with the deal under OSE's leadership.

If the two exchanges go ahead with the plan, JASDAQ, which is for start-ups, and the OSE's Hercules market, also for start-ups, could be fully integrated by 2010 at the earliest, sources said.

Amid falling stock prices, JASDAQ is projected to fall into the red for the first time in fiscal 2007, and has judged that it will be difficult to continue as an independent market.(IHT/Asahi: April 28,2008)