For the 16 months between June 2006 and October 2007, Europe’s exchanges were hot. The imminent introduction of European legislation aimed at smashing cosy national share-trading monopolies, coupled with a desire for diverse revenue streams, unleashed a merger frenzy that culminated in the sale of three of Europe’s largest markets.

In June 2006, the New York Stock Exchange agreed to pay $10bn for Euronext, itself a product of mergers between national markets in Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Portugal. A year later, Nasdaq sealed a $3.7bn deal to buy Nordic exchange operator OMX. Not to be outdone, the London Stock Exchange signed a €1.6bn tie-up with Borsa Italiana in June 2007, after fighting off approaches from Nasdaq, Deutsche Börse and Euronext.