Lucas Jackson / Reuters
And the new owners of the New York Stock Exchange could be… German? It’s a definite possibility, with the owners of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the German Börse, in talks to buy the NYSE, a longtime symbol of American capitalism. The merger would create the world’s largest financial market, with a presence in 14 European countries and the United States. While the NYSE—with its famous bell starting the trading day—has remained the symbol of the American financial markets to many, the company’s dominance has slipped in recent years, having less than half the number of equities and traders than just a decade ago. Under terms of the deal, the NYSE would still be based in Manhattan, but the German Börse would own as much as 60 percent of the company and it would be incorporated in Amsterdam.