Brussels accused of thwarting LSE deal

Senior bankers have criticised the European Commission for torpedoing the London Stock Exchange’s planned merger with the Deutsche Borse. They singled out the body’s unwillingness to accept a remedial plan put forward by the LSE after regulators demanded that it sell a stake in MTS, an Italian trading venue, as a condition of its mooted €24 billion (£21 billion) merger with its German rival. A senior source said MTS had only recently become part of the discussions with regulators. Business, page 1