The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, has supported his Treasury Secretary, Ed Balls, in underlining his wish to protect the London Stock Exchange’s listed companies from rigid U.S. rules should Nasdaq succeed in its takeover ambitions.

Brown outlined the details of regulations to be added to the new Companies Bill now passing through Parliament for addition to the statute book in 2007.

“The proposals we are putting forward,” he said, “are a reminder of what we as a country are expected to do to ensure there is no doubt as to the regulation of the Exchange. This is a national decision. It is the right thing to do.”

Paradoxically, the new rules could facilitate Nasdaq’s bid by lessening opposition in London to the new owners.

It won’t, however, diminish the sense of sell-out of this central institution to London’s place as a world financial marketplace.