Euronext is due to be spun off in a 1 to 1.5 billion-euro listing after Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) merged with New York Stock Exchange parent NYSE Euronext in November.

Euronext Chief Executive Dominique Cerutti said that first they needed clearance from regulators in Belgium, Britain, France, Portugal and the Netherlands, countries where the company operates exchanges.

"We need new clearance which we hope to get at the end of January or in February," Cerutti said in a New Year's address, adding that then the company could begin procedures for an initial public offering.

The French government and regulators have for months been pushing banks and insurers to take a large stake in Euronext, but they have shown little enthusiasm for the idea.

(Reporting by Matthieu Protard and Alexandre Boksenbaum-Granier; writing by Leigh Thomas; editing by Ralph Boulton)