The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has said it plans to halt closer co-operation between two commodity exchanges, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and Trayport.

The CMA has already put the brakes on a merger of the two exchanges, saying it would significantly reduce competition, and that decision was upheld by the Competition Appeals Tribunal. The CMA said ICE had to sell Trayport.

Now the CMA says it expects to outlaw an agreement between the two companies signed during the merger. The Authority said the agreement was a “significant step-change in relations between two companies which had historically not co-operated”. It says the agreement could “risk an effective sale of the Trayport business and benefit ICE in the future whilst disdvantaging the new owner of Trayport”.

The CMA has provisionally concluded that it is necessary to terminate the agreement.

Anyone wishing to respond to the provisional findings should do so in writing, by no later than 5pm on 9 May 2017. See the case page here.