Bourse lures lost trade

PARIS - The French Economy Ministry yesterday changed stock market rules on block trades, allowing them to be to done immediately.

Traders are obliged to wait until a stock price is quoted on the market at the prior agreed price of their block trade before being able to execute the transaction.

Jean-Francois Theodore, Paris Bourse chairman, said the new rules were aimed at winning back business from large institutions who had defected to the London market where rules were easier.

'The creation of a market for block trades reinforces the competitiveness of the central CAC market and allows us to inform investors better about trades that were previously realised in London in a total darkness,' Mr Theodore told a news conference.

He said the new ruling, approved by the stock market watchdog, could start on September 15.