Abdullah Al Turaifi, chief executive officer of the Securities and Commodities Authority said executives from the two exchanges were in talks and that he was expecting to hear from them imminently about their plans.
“We are waiting for their reply, both markets,” he said. “They have some meetings together.”
Al Turaifi added he did not know the last time the two bourses met over the issue. He also said the regulator would support them, whether they decided to merge or not.
DFM Executive Chairman Essa Kazim had told reporters earlier last year that the owners of both exchanges have held merger talks and that “it is in the interest of everybody to consolidate.”
This is just the latest in a wave of stock exchange mergers around the world announced in the last few weeks.
Last week, the London Stock Exchange (LSE) said it would merge with Toronto’s TMX exchange in Canada, potentially creating the world’s dominant mining and energy company bourse, as well as the world’s fourth-largest exchange, with $4.1trn of market value.
Germany’s Deutsche Boerse and the NYSE/Euronext exchanges confirmed they were in “advanced talks” related to a merger. The combined entity would boast annual trading value of $20trn.
Hong Kong’s stock exchange, currently the world’s largest exchange operator by market value, has also said it was open to new “international alliances”.
