Chris Gibson-Smith, Chairman of the London Stock Exchange, is believed to be discussing the recruitment of a successor to Clara Furse, its gritty Chief Executive. The LSE is said to be using the services of a leading City search firm to oversee the appointment process.

There is apparently no formal timetable for Furse’s departure but she is unlikely to leave before next autumn at the earliest, and may even remain in place beyond the end of next year.

“Clara has been with the Exchange for eight years and it is natural that the board is thinking about succession planning,” said an insider, quoted by the Sunday Telegraph. “She remains fully committed to the completion of its integration with Borsa Italiana,” which the LSE merged with in 2007.

This move has come as a surprise in the City. During her time in charge, she has defended the LSE against a string of hostile takeover bids, earning her the nickname “Queen Clara”.

“Each of the bids was pitched above its current share price. The approaches included one from Macquarie, the Australian banking group, another from Nasdaq, the American technology exchange, and one from Deutsche Borse.”

Her determination to keep the LSE out of the clutches of foreign predators has, ironically, led to closer ties with overseas exchange groups. Large chunks of the London exchange are now owned by shareholders from the Middle East, while last year’s takeover of Borsa Italiana was one element of a wave of consolidation which has swept through the exchanges industry in the last two years.”

Successors are thought to include Massimo Capuano, the deputy chief executive of the LSE group, Doug Webb, the recently recruited chief financial officer, and Martin Graham, director of equity markets, who has led the growth of Aim, the LSE’s successful junior exchange.

The LSE has declined to comment on the search for Furse’s successor.

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.