It has been a year worth forgetting for the top brass at the New York Stock Exchange. There were moves by the Securities and Exchange Commission to loosen the NYSE's stranglehold on US equity business, widespread allegations of a protectionist attitude and Dick Grasso, former chief executive of the exchange, was hauled over the coals by Eliot Spitzer, New York state Attorney General. Staff at the NYSE could be forgiven for thinking somebody has got it in for them.

Spitzer is suing Grasso, along with a former director and the NYSE itself, over allegations that Grasso's $187.5m (€155.6m) compensation package was "excessive" and "illegal". And the NYSE risks its dominant position in US equity markets being eroded by a host of competitors should an opt-out clause to a controversial 30-year-old rule be adopted.