A major shareholder in the New York Stock Exchange has proposed a strategic link between the NYSE and the London Stock Exchange, instead of a merger or takeover. He is to meet with John Thain, the NYSE chief executive, within the next week and will pusue the idea then.

The Times (London) reports: “Thomas Caldwell, chief of Caldwell Asset Management and owner of about 2.7 percent of the NYSE’s shares, told The Times last night that a merger or takeover between the LSE and the NYSE could create more problems than it solves. ‘It could be very messy, very costly and very time consuming, and to me the benefits of such a deal are not clear at all,’ he said. Mr Caldwell said that he believed the NYSE, the LSE and other international exchanges should consider striking alliances similar to those undertaken in the airline industry.”

“The One World Alliance is a good example,” he said. Under such an alliance exchanges could move towards creating shared technology such as trading platforms and could use each other’s geographic location to extend trading hours. “For example, clients could trade New York listings through London while New York is closed and the exchanges could split trading fees two-thirds to one-third or something like that.”