The chief executive of the London Stock Exchange says a wave of “nationalism” has made it harder to pursue deals with direct rivals, alluding to the “painful” collapse of its merger with Deutsche Börse in the wake of Brexit.

Speaking at a conference in London on June 5, David Schwimmer said: “In the environment that we are in today, with more market fragmentation as opposed to cooperation across markets... there will continue to be this nationalistic focus on exchanges in particular.