OM, the Swedish technology group that owns Stockholmsbörsen, and Hex, the Helsinki stock exchange, are in talks that could signal an acceleration of consolidation among the Nordic stock exchanges.

Neither firm would comment on the talks, or whether they involved Hex moving on to OM systems or joining the Norex alliance or whether a merger was in the cards. They did confirm that they had been in talks for some time "aiming at close co-operation between the two companies".