Smarting from the collapse of Europe’s main equity indices, the region’s stock markets and their upstart rivals, multi-lateral trading facilities, face a difficult future that could lead to consolidation across the sector.

Everybody involved with the European equities market is hurting. The value of share trading, a function that dictates revenues for the region's exchanges, has fallen considerably in recent months. Last month, share trading at Germany's Deutsche Börse was 58% down on February last year, while the London Stock Exchange was down 52% and Euronext dropped 13.3%.