Christopher Cox could be forgiven for being nervous. The chairman-elect of the US Securities and Exchange Commission faces the unenviable task of filling the shoes of William Donaldson who, with Eliot Spitzer, the New York state attorney-general, has been instrumental in changing the landscape of the US securities industry.

Dealing with US securities exchanges will be one of Cox's toughest challenges. The market is in the throes of consolidation, thanks partly to a testing regulatory environment and mounting pressure to cut trading costs and commissions.