Clara Furse, the first woman Chief Executive of the London Stock Exchange, has been honoured in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list as a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE), “for services to the financial services industry”.

Clara Furse, LSE Chief Executive.

Mrs Furse, who successfully saw off unwanted takeover approaches for the exchange from Nasdaq, Deutsche Borse, OMX and others, will receive the equivalent of a Knighthood for her efforts.

Other business leaders recognised in the awards with Knighthoods include Michael Snyder, the former Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s policy and resources committee, and Moir Lockhead, who transformed the regional bus company, FirstGroup.

The Dubai Stock Exchange has finally signalled its willingness to sell its stake in the London Stock Exchange to Qatar. The deal would end a bitter rivalry between Dubai and Qatar over their involvement in the LSE.

The offer amounts to a stake swap between the Gulf states following Qatar’s decision to sell its holding in OMX, the Scandinavian exchange, to Dubai this month.

Essa Kazim, Borse Dubai’s chairman, commented, “If the Qatari Government wishes to strike a deal in the future, then it would be subject to negotiation.”

When the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) sold its 9.98pc stake in OMX to Dubai last week, some analysts believed that a reciprocal deal over the London exchange was off the table because Qatar had expressed no interest in acquiring Dubai’s LSE shares at the time.

In effect, Kazim said that Borse Dubai had not agreed to any deal “whatsoever”, but his comments suggest that a share sale could be negotiated.

In a complex transaction, Dubai and New York’s Nasdaq are expected to finalize a $4.9 billion (£2.5 billion) deal to buy OMX. Dubai would then pass OMX to Nasdaq in exchange for a 19.9pc stake in the new company. It would also acquire Nasdaq’s existing 28pc stake in the LSE.

Some of those shares could be sold then to Qatar, which currently owns 15pc of the LSE through $60 billion sovereign wealth fund. QIA is thought to want the stake to expand its own capital markets.

The Qatar Investment Authority has shelved its attempt to buy the Scandinavian exchange group, OMX.

The plan now is to become the London Stock Exchange’s biggest shareholder by swapping its 10 percent stake in OMX for part of Dubai’s 20 percent holding in the LSE.

The Qataris already hold around 15 percent of the London exchange. A deal is thought to be imminent.

With the LSE in the FTSE 100, it won’t be so easy to take over the company in future, one presumes.

American predator, Nasdaq, is reported to have agreed a deal to sell it’s 31 percent shareholding in the London Stock Exchange to the state-owned Qatar Investment Authority for £14 ($28) a share.

Nasdaq needs the money to raise its offer for the Scandinavian group, OMX.

So far, the motives of the Qataris for buying the share bundle is unknown. As a prelude to a full-scalle takeover bid, it would be unwelcome. The LSE would prefer a buyer who will support its long-term plans.