Nasdaq faces another hurdle: Mayor of London

In the really testy standoff between the London Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq, a new voice has emerged: the mayor of London Ken Livingstone. He has asked government authorities to take a look at the proposed deal from a competition point of view. Nasdaq, which owns nearly 30 percent of the LSE, cannot buy more shares until mid-December--so there is time for such for the government to investigate. If the anti-competitive bandwagon gets cranked up, it could be a problem for the Nasdaq. The Office of Fair Trading is already looking into the transaction. One course of action would be to refer the merger to the Competition Commission. The commission could take as long as two years to investigate. By that time, the NYSE and Euronext will have long been married.

For on the Nasdaq:
- here's an update the AP
- read this article for more on the Nasdaq/LSE buyout