Q & A – Eric Bertrand

Stock exchanges in the Gulf Cooperation Council are still relatively young and have not reached the degree of sophistication of their Western peers. To discuss what GCC exchanges can do to evolve and what mistakes should be avoided, Executive sat down for a chat with Eric Bertrand, Principal Exchange Business Strategy Consultant for NYSE Euronext.  What do you think are key barriers for an integration of the GCC exchanges? Are you pessimistic regarding the possibility of such integration? I am not overly optimistic about the possibility of integration of GCC exchanges. The main barrier is probably political willingness. Technology is not a barrier and from a business point of view, there is no reason why it should not happen. The only reason why it is not happening is because there is a lack of focus on it; the need for it is not felt, which is strange as it seems