New York: The US Securities and Exchange Commission will take up to another 60 days to decide whether to allow the sale of the Chicago Stock Exchange to a group of investors led by China-based Chongqing Casin Enterprise Group.
The SEC, which reviews proposed mergers involving exchanges to ensure they comply with federal regulations and appropriately self-police their brokerage members, said it needed more time to make the decision in a regulatory filing dated June 6. CHX is a niche player in the US equities market, executing less than 0.5 percent of U.S. stock transactions.
The proposed deal has drawn attention because it would be the first time a US exchange has been bought by Chinese investors. There are also US investors in the group.
A long-term objective of Casin Group, a privately held company that invests in real estate development and financial holdings, is to list Chinese companies in the United States through CHX, which has locations in Chicago and New Jersey. Five members of US Congress, led by Representative Robert Pittenger, a Republican on the Financial Services Committee and the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, have urged the SEC to block the deal.
