Europe pushes back against London bid to trim market trading hours
A coalition of European bourses has said plans for shorter trading hours by London bodies would not be beneficial for investors or markets.
The Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE) said shorter hours would be a move in the wrong direction. It instead advocated for adopting other measures to improve workplace culture, such as increasing the number of shifts.
The statement comes a day after the UK’s Investment Association (IA) and Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) made a final plea to Euronext, which is a vice president of FESE, to cut its trading day to seven hours.
The current European trading day is from 9am to 5:30pm continental European time, longer than those in Asia or Wall Street.
FESE said a cut in hours would put Europe at a competitive disadvantage to rival trading venues in other parts of the world, as share trading spans from when Asian markets open to when Wall Street closes.
The trading day on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) is 8am to 4:30pm. The British bourse recently closed a consultation on trimming its trading hours, which received largely positive responses.
LSE, which is not a member of FESE, said the move would improve mental wellbeing and encourage more women to join the trading floor, as well as boost market liquidity.
However a universal approach across Europe’s bourses would be required if London were to avoid falling behind on its own, particularly after the UK leaves the European Union.
Euronext, which operates six European bourses, has previously spoken out against the London model.
US exchange operator Nasdaq, which also manages the Stockholm bourse, said shortening hours would be “misguided”, and that any change would need to be a pan-European decision that also included off-exchange trading platforms.