The corporate hyperbole heralding London Stock Exchange PLC’s proposed tie-in with TMX Group Inc. has now seemingly been exceeded by the hysterical political reaction. Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail.

The LSE’s proposed takeover of TMX has seemingly awakened protectionist instincts in the boardrooms of Bay Street, ministerial offices in Ontario and Quebec, and possibly Ottawa.

There’s no question that at a visceral level, there is something discomfiting about seeing your country’s largest stock exchange being bought out. But fears of a mass exodus of listings, a capital drought for Canadian companies and an abdication to foreign regulators are just wildly overwrought. These sorts of deals have been consummated all over the world without such consequences, and there’s no reason to expect this transaction will be any different.

The reality is that the Toronto Stock Exchange has long since ceased to be the type of entity that could be considered a public utility, in need of protection from foreign suitors. Since its demutualization and public listing, it is just another company that’s in the business of listing and trading securities, and selling market data. As TMX CEO Tom Kloet said during a conference call to announce the deal: these days, TMX is really a technology company that just happens to focus on financial products.

TMX is not a public trust. If it disappeared tomorrow, a handful of companies would gladly take its place in the listing and trading of securities — because there’s money to be made, not because it’s a public service. A handful of companies are already hungering after that business.

Any fear that Canada is going to be left bereft of an essential financial service because TMX is pursuing an opportunistic merger with a foreign rival is unfounded. That’s not to say that the authorities shouldn’t ensure that the capital markets and investors are going to be well served.

But, hopefully, once the surprise wears off, regulators will be able to evaluate the deal on its merits — and the electoral ambitions of pandering provincial and federal politicians won’t factor into the decision.