Getting a licence to run the highest grade of exchange in the UK is not cheap. Jumping through the hoops demanded by the Financial Conduct Authority before it will grant Recognised Investment Exchange status can cost as much as £1 million, industry practitioners say.

Nasdaq OMX might soon become the latest exchange operator to decide it would be money well spent. Gaining RIE status for NLX, the derivatives platform it opened in London last year, would signal how serious Nasdaq is about breaking into the rapidly expanding European futures market.