It is not often that the Belgians manage to outdo anyone, but they made a spectacular job of it last week. When news of the proposed merger between the ParisBourse, the Amsterdam Exchange and the Brussels Stock Exchange was leaked to the Belgian press, the press offices in Paris and Amsterdam initially refused to even confirm the talks were taking place. Enter Belgian finance minister Didier Reynder, whose stock exchange stands to gain most from the deal. He proudly proclaimed that the talks to merge the three bourses were 'very advanced'. This prompted a rather sheepish 'we can neither confirm nor deny that the talks will lead to a merger' from Paris. If they do merge, they might want to look at streamlining their lines of communication.