Mergers between international exchange groups will benefit both investors and capital raisers, the chairman of the London Stock Exchange group said, as he conceded that the LSE was caught 'flat-footed' by the growth of high-speed trading.

Speaking at the Marketforce European Exchanges Summit in London, LSE Group chairman Chris Gibson-Smith said combining international exchange groups would help build "larger, more liquid markets with larger groups of customers," merging liquidity pools and establishing wider international investor bases.