SOX Center

To win approval for his deal to purchase Euronext, the New York Stock Exchange chief executive, John Thain, said Wednesday in an interview in Paris, that there had been good progress on easing anxiety among companies and banks - the main users of the new exchange - to create a firewall to block the export of American rules to Europe.

Thain also said the U.S. financial markets regulator, the Securities Exchange Commission, had already made clear that corporate governance legislation known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act does not apply outside the United States.

If the United States passed further laws seen as harmful by Europeans, Euronext would be protected by a foundation controlled by three people and based in the Netherlands.

NYSE’s offer was worth about $10 billion and its value has since climbed along with NYSE’s share price.

International Herald Tribune: NYSE chief woos Europe on exchange deal