Futures Market Operator, IntercontinentalExchange, postponed the date for acquiring NYSE Euronext. NYSE claimed this would give more time for approval of the transaction by European regulators

At this point, European regulators have not raised any substantive issues among NYSE and ICE. Early in October, NYSE expected more than USD10 billion in sales to ICE said to be completed on the 4^th of November.

Roland Bellegarde, the head of European execution at the NYSE Euronext, claimed the date has always been tentative. Bellegarde also added, "It has never been firm. If you read the initial announcement, we said, Nov. 4, subject to the final regulatory approval. So, it's a question of days, but it's nothing surprising. If you don't have a date, you don't have an objective. For us, the sooner the better, for sure, but we are talking about days, not months."

NYSE and ICE have already been given the nod by a few European regulators. However, both companies would still require approval from ministers of finance from various countries in Europe.