With an Italian — Fabio Capello — now firmly ensconced as the England football manager (for the time being at least), and the comings and goings between new partners, the London Stock Exchange and its Italian counterpart now an established traffic flow, it seems British-Italian relations have never been better.

Tommaso Padao-Schioppa, Italy’s Finance Minister and policy committee member at the IMF, was guest of honour at the LSE’s Christmas lunch, we hear. As befits a 300-year-old institution, the wine cellar is generally reckoned to be superb.

However, an off note was struck amid this glutinous festive cheer when the Minister scolded Borsa Italiana for not bedding down with NYSE Euronext or the German exchange, Deutche Borse.

The name of the new group’s holding company will be London Stock Exchange — anything else would have downgraded the reputation of the new combine. It is also a fact that over 30 percent of Borsa’s trades come from London based investment banks.

It’s easy to see why the deal made more sense to the Milan bosses than a eurozone one, apparently favoured by the politician. Sr. Padao-Schioppa did concede, however, that mild disapproval of a marriage is often a good incentive to make it work.

Let us hope so.

The London Stock Exchange, which has seen almost a half of its shares snapped up by two rival Arab Royal families, has announced that the summer’s volatility in share trading during the credit crunch in financial markets has boosted growth in the booming exchange’s business.

Chief executive Clara Furse said the merger with Borsa Italiana should be completed by October 1st. “The exchange is very close to completing the merger with Borsa Italiana, having secured overwhelming support from both sets of shareholders. We are focused on implementing our merger plans which will lead to accelerated growth for the enlarged group.

“The Exchange continues to make excellent progress and has delivered a very strong trading performance for the year to date. In particular, the Sets electronic order book achieved enormous volume growth over the summer, as increased market volatility during the period added to strong growth already being facilitated by the new TradElect platform, in conjunction with customer and other exchange initiatives.”

In the past five months alone, the number of deals done on the Sets electronic trading system has grown by 75 percent over the same period a year ago, to around 551,000 a day. This smashes the 480,000 target set for the full year ending next March.

The London Stock Exchange is looking for a new name for the business that will own the merged LSE and Borsa Italiana.

Although the London exchange will retain its own name, the new entity will reflect the two components of the company, the LSE announced.

The London Stock Exchange has undergone yet more changes in its make-up as a result of the frantic tussle between rival Gulf States, Qatar and Dubai.

Dubai currently holds 29 percent of LSE shares after buying up most of the Nasdaq stake. Qatar has 21 percent but seeks more.

The LSE board sees the Qataris as friendly invaders — with a seat at the top table — and plans to help Dohar in Qatar become a world-class financial centre.

Meanwhile, the partnership between Nasdaq and Dubai (which owns 20 percent of the American exchange, while Nasdaq has 30 percent of the Dubai International Financial Center) is close to gaining control of Swedish-based exchange group, OMX, also a target for the Qatar Investment Authority.

The Dubai stock exchange is seeking approval from the board of OMX, the pan-Scandinavian stock exchange group, to support a £2 billion ($4bn) takeover offer this week.

The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), which owns the exchange, has set up meetings with key shareholders of the Swedish-based group and its management, to pave the way for a bid of around 230 kronor (£16.70) per share. Bankers at HSBC, which is advising the Dubai owners, seem to have suggested privately that the Emirate was prepared to pay as much as 250 kronor a share.

They will also have meetings with members of the Swedish government and regulators in an attempt to win support for the approach.

These moves could have implications for the London Stock Exchange. Dubai is thought to have plans to create a pan-European exchange to include the LSE and its new partner, Borsa Italiana. Such a grouping would rival NYSE/Euronext, which was formed last year.

Nasdaq’s recently-agreed bid of £1.8 billion ($3.6bn) for OMX now looks weak in comparison. However, talk of Dubai approaching the American exchange to be part of its masterplan seem wide of the mark. Dubai is shy of a political backlash if it buys in America again, following turbulence created by its recent purchase of P&O and its American ports.

Nasdaq chief executive, Bob Greifeld, last week told investors that its funding for the OMX bid was “flexible”. Insiders are apparently saying that “all options” were on the table, including selling some of Nasdaq’s 22 percent stake in the London Stock Exchange.

A source is quoted as saying, “Greifeld is determined to get this and is leaving no stone unturned. He is also aware that his future is uncertain if this bid fails, after the failure of the London Stock Exchange bid.”

With a place in the FTSE 100 now assured, Clara Furse may be on the prowl again for another asset to bolster LSE independence from Dubai’s predatory instincts.