Anyone who has children will know how quickly they grow up, but not even the most precocious seven-year-olds grow up as fast as the toddlers who are turning the US exchange landscape on its head.

Last week's 11th hour $9.9bn (€7.5bn) bid for the Chicago Board of Trade by the Intercontinental Exchange was surprising, not least because eight years ago it did not exist. Since its birth in 2000, ICE has learned quickly and today it is worth just under $9bn and has the audacity to gatecrash the CBOT's agreed merger with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.