The most powerful users of the London Stock Exchange - under takeover threat from European exchanges Euronext and Deutsche Börse - have given their clearest hint yet that they prefer the business model of Euronext but have stopped short of taking sides.

Werner Frey, chief executive of the European Securities Forum, which represents 20 leading users of the LSE including Morgan Stanley, UBS and Goldman Sachs, told Financial News his members "overwhelmingly preferred the idea that share deals are cleared and settled by an organisation which operates independently from the exchange itself."