New York, NY - Last week, a lawsuit challenging the planned merger between the National Association of Securities Dealers and the New York Stock Exchange was dismissed by a federal court.

Standard Investment Chartered, Inc., a California-based securities firm, brought the suit to halt the proposed merger of the NYSE's regulatory arm and the NASD into a single self-regulatory organization.

However, Judge Shirley Wohl Kram of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that Standard Investment had failed to exhaust its administrative remedies and ordered that the case be dropped.  The judge said Standard must take its claims to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The lawsuit claimed that the proposed merger was approved by members based on a misleading proxy statement.  In addition, Standard Investment claimed that the uniform cash payments and dues credits offered were too low, and the the proposed bylaw changes were unfair.

Legal counsel for Standard Investment indicated that the firm planned to appeal the decision.