No end in sight for Deutsche Boerse hiring freeze 

A share trader smokes a cigarette as he stands under the DAX index board at Frankfurt's stock exchange Deutsche Boerse
A share trader smokes a cigarette as he stands under the DAX index board at Frankfurt's stock exchange Deutsche Boerse

Deutsche Boerse's hiring freeze is continuing as the exchange looks to regroup following the failure of its merger with the London Stock Exchange. 

The Frankfurt stock exchange suspended hiring at the end of February after revenues for the first two months of the year proved weak, but a person close to the process said there was still "no date for an end yet".

That could make things tricky if Deutsche Boerse's supervisory board does not extend chief executive Carsten Kengeter's contract, which expires in March 2018, unless it fills the top job with an internal candidate. 

The decision is likely to hinge on whether Mr Kengeter is charged by prosecutors for allegations of insider trading, sources told Reuters last week - claims that he has insisted will "turn out to be unfounded". 

Proving themselves as standalone businesses has been key for Deutsche Boerse and the LSE since the European Commission killed their plans for a £24bn merger in March. 

The tie-up would have created a "de facto monopoly in the markets for clearing fixed income instruments", according to EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager. It had been widely expected after the politically sensitive merger came up against a string of obstacles.  

These included an 11th hour demand by the Commission for the LSE to sell its Italian trading platform MTS, something both sides had promised Italian finance minister Pier Carlo Padoan they would not do a year earlier; the surprise probe into Mr Kengeter, who was due to become chief executive of the enlarged exchange; and the UK's unexpected vote for Brexit. 

Although Deutsche Boerse has suspended hiring for an unknown length of time, it is not freezing pay, a person close to the exchange said. 

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