The chief executive of Eurex, the derivatives market owned by Germany's Deutsche Börse, has accused the European competition authorities of favouritism towards US-exchange operators after the European Commission unconditionally approved IntercontinentalExchange's $10.1bn takeover of NYSE Euronext.

Speaking at a panel session during the International Derivatives Expo yesterday, Andreas Preuss, who is also a member of Deutsche Börse's executive board, said: "We are seeing the result of a far developed asymmetry in the regulatory environment. It's a result of EU regulators making [sure] that consolidation in our global derivatives markets will be very successfully led by exchanges with US origins."