PARLIAMENT last week approved legislation which will allow the country’s equities, bond and futures exchanges to merge. The National Assembly unanimously approved the Financial Markets Control Amendment Bill, which must now go before the National Council of Provinces for concurrence before it can be signed into law by President Thabo Mbeki. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange says it wants to merge with the Bond Exchange of South Africa and the South African Futures Exchange because the global nature of financial services is challenging the relevance of national exchanges worldwide. The JSE says a merger will enable the establishment of a more efficient, safer exchange and should allow the country to continue to attract and retain high levels of investment.