The supervisory board of Deutsche Borse last night approved its merger with the London Stock Exchange, putting back on track a process that had threatened to be derailed by political and national sensitivities.

Mr Rolf Breuer, chairman of the Frankfurt stock exchange operator and chief executive of Deutsche Bank, its largest shareholder, said after a meeting of the board that 17 of its 21 members had voted in favour. The vote is a triumph for Mr Werner Seifert, Deutsche Borse chief executive. Widely seen as the architect of the controversial merger, he had lobbied intensively to overcome serious German doubts about the impact the deal would have on Frankfurt.

The two exchanges announced earlier this month they would merge their operations to form a single stock market operator called iX.