After its recent triumph in seeing off a distinctly hostile bid from American exchange Nasdaq, the LSE must be ruminating on its long run of successes in similar defensive situations over the past decade. Can it continue indefinitely?

Chairman, Christopher Gibson-Smith appears relaxed about the whole thing : “I joined [the LSE] because of the almost certainty that this sort of thing would happen.”

No regrets, then? “The succession of attacks against the exchange has disrupted our core business from delivering strategically.” In the end, though, “Everything can be dealt with. Everything is amenable to solution. I don’t engage with the world in terms of perceived obstacles that I can’t deal with. … I don’t regard Nasdaq [with 28.75 percent of LSE shares] as an obstacle to a major deal [with another exchange]. I don’t think we have any idea what Nasdaq wants to do.”

On the presence of other predators in the share register, including the no-nonsense hedge funds, Gibson-Smith says : “We ended up with a third generation of … let’s call them hedge funds, but I think of them more as active pursuers of value.”

Pollyana or realist, the LSE Chairman certainly gives the impression of being on top of a confused situation. As well he might in view of the recent run of victorious outcomes. But what of the new wave of consolidations, especially the new giant emerging on its doorstep comprising the New York Stock Exchange, Euronext and the one that got away : Liffe? And Project Turquoise is still to loom on the horizon.

More later.

This has been a record year for world stock markets with IPOs raising £116 billion ($227bn), according to Ernst & Young.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange did best, grabbing 17pc of the total. But the London Stock Exchange came a close second, with 15pc, ahead of the New York exchange on 11pc, Euronext on 8pc, and Nasdaq, at a lowly 6pc.

Much of the bonanza has come from Russian and Chinese companies seeking havens in lightly-regulated financial centres. The LSE has scored heavily over the American outfits because of the negative effect of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation.

Nasdaq has made a new offer valued at £2.7 billion ($5.13bn) for the London Stock Exchange.

The LSE board has rejected the bid, claiming it undervalues the buoyant stock market, which has posted record trades and earnings in recent reports.

Nasdaq already owns more than 25pc of LSE shares, giving it a powerful advantage in the current round of consolidation deals. With the New York Stock Exchange well on its way to takeover Euronext, Nasdaq sees a liaison with the LSE as strategically crucial in its battle for business with its close NYC neighbour.

Shares in the LSE have traded briskly since the offer was made. The BBC calculates that if Nasdaq bought them all, they would have a 50pc holding in the company. That’s unlikely to be the case though.

With a proposed softening of America’s draconian Sarbanes-Oxley rules and a new bill protecting the LSE from foreign regulation from the Treasury, the major obstacles to a merger seem to be melting away.

Clara Furse and her board may have other tricks up their sleeves, not least a tieup with an exchange in the Far East — Tokyo was mentioned recently.

It’s still all to play for.

The Business Editor of the BBC last night broke the news that at least half a dozen American investment banks are in the process of setting up a giant European stock exchange to challenge the rest.

The group includes Goldman Sachs, Merril Lynch and other “household” names. They already have successful platforms for buying and selling shares, so by combining their strength and lowering prices they will pose a formidable threat to the mainstream exchanges, especially the LSE and the proposed NYSE-Euronext conglomerate.

The BBC’s Robert Peston thought the threat may make the presumed bid for the LSE by Nasdaq more likely to succeed.

With the taming of the worst features of America’s Sarbanes-Oxley regulations in prospect, the walls that have hitherto shielded an independent LSE seem to be crumbling.