With the ink barely dry on a European Commission document referring the merger between Deutsche Börse and the London Stock Exchange Group to an in-depth antitrust review, the LSE revealed its intent to give up its French clearing business in a sale to remedy competition concerns.

The swiftness of the UK exchange group's response was a sign that it had been fully prepared for the long slog ahead with Europe's competition authorities and had a plan in place to tackle the situation. But the extent of the Commission's concerns raises the question of whether selling off the LSE's French clearing operations will be enough to seal the deal.