If those leading the LCH.Clearnet bid wish to be taken seriously and succeed in winning the suddenly coveted clearing house, they should take note of the reactions to the proposed deal.

The responses have run the gamut from incredulity to curiosity and delight to downright fury. The "incredulous" camp cannot quite accept that the bid is genuine. This is either because they do not believe the eight banks and one broker behind the deal are really serious or that this consortium will maintain sufficient cohesion to make a formal bid; or simply that they cannot comprehend how the same firms that backed the earlier DTCC bid could now be involved in launching a counterbid.