It’s almost a done deal says the body language. Euronext claimed yesterday it is in “active discussions” on a deal which will transform both itself and the New York Stock Exchange.

It seems that Atticus Capital, which holds 9pc of Euronext and was in favour of a Deutsche Boerse tie-up, is now reconciled to a deal with New York.

The pan-Continental exchange has said it will update its shareholders at the annual meeting next week and will finalize the deal “as soon as is practicable.”

The London Stock Exchange will feel more vulnerable as the NYSE encamps across the channel and muscles in on the London futures and options market, Liffe, a property the LSE should have secured for itself just a few years ago.

These are not easy days for the independent LSE.

A deal on a merger between the New York Stock Exchange and Euronext may be closer than anyone recently supposed.

Talks beween John Thain, Chief Executive of the NYSE and Jean Francios Theodore of Euronext have taken place in New York. Reports also suggest that an initial clearance has been sought and given by the French Treasury.

Although the regulatory and nationalist minefield on the continent might normally spook an American company, there’s evidence that Thain is playing a wider game. Buying Euronext would give him London’s Liffe, the futures and options market.

It’s unlikely we’ll hear much more ahead of next week’s Euronext annual meeting, but other players may make moves before the die is cast. The LSE will not find it comfortable to be caught between an NYSE which potentially owns Liffe, and a Nasdaq which owns 25pc of its shares.

Thomas Caldwell is emerging as a significant player in the attempts to consolidate the major stock exchanges across the Atlantic. His website gives the following biography:

“Thomas S. Caldwell is Chairman and Chief Investment Strategist of Caldwell Asset Management Inc. (New York). He is also Chairman of Caldwell Financial Ltd. and its subsidiary companies Caldwell Securities Ltd. (Toronto), Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. (Toronto). Mr. Caldwell is a Member of the Board of Associates of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research (MIT) Boston, the Economic Club of New York, a Director of the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments, and a Director of The Conference of Defence Associations Institute (CDAI). He is a former Governor of the Toronto Stock Exchange, a New York Stock Exchange Member, a Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute and he is also President and a Director of Urbana Corporation. He is past Director of the Investment Dealers Association of Canada and Liberty Insurance Company of Canada, a subsidiary of Liberty Mutual Insurance.”

Caldwell was formerly head of one of the largest groups of NYSE members and still represents a large number of smaller shareholders.

He says he is talking with several institutional shareholders who between them own a significant percentage of the NYSE shares.

Last night it emerged that Thomas Caldwell, head of Caldwell Financial, one of the biggest shareholders in the New York Stock Exchange, is against any tie-up with the pan-European exchange, Euronext.

As talks continue, Caldwell said: “The NYSE is the jewel in the crown of world exchanges and Euronext comes nowhere near it. I and others like me do not want to see the NYSE diluted by a deal with Euronext.”

London Times Business reports: “John Thain and Jean-François Théodore, the chief executives of the NYSE and Euronext, have been in talks to discuss a possible merger. There was speculation that the NYSE had lost interest in the London Stock Exchange after its rival Nasdaq acquired a 24.1 per cent stake in the LSE.”

In another neck of the woods, Nasdaq’s chief executive, Bob Greifeld, who recently walked away from one bid for the London Stock Exchange, is barred from bidding again until the autumn. However, he can take his holding up to 29.9pc, but few expect him to exceed 25pc, a blocking stake designed to shut down other bids.

Euronext’s market capitalisation is about $10 billion (£5.3 million), close to NYSE’s $11 billion and a comparison that has prompted some analysts to suggest that they are equals. However, Mr Caldwell said: “These four or five small exchanges do not add up to an institution like the NYSE, they are simply worlds apart.”