Clara Furse was appointed chief executive of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in January 2001, following the collapse of the proposed merger between the LSE and Deutsche Börse and the subsequent resignation of Gavin Casey. Since her appointment, stock market consolidation has intensified, with the LSE itself often being the focus of attention.

September 2000

Euronext formed - an alliance of the leading exchanges in Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris and later Lisbon

June 2001

Merger agreed between the Lisbon Stock Exchange and Euronext

January 2002

Euronext continues its expansion, acquiring LIFFE (London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange)

February 2002

Lisbon Stock Exchange formally joins Euronext

December 2002

Formation of EDX derivatives exchange between OM Gruppen and the LSE: LSE pays £18.2 million for a 76 per cent stake in OM London Exchange, which offers trading in Scandinavian derivatives based on blue-chip companies

January 2003

Likelihood of another bid for LSE from Deutsche Börse fades

December 2004

Deutsche Börse launches £1.3 billion indicative offer for the LSE

Euronext emerges as an additional bidder for the LSE

March 2005

LSE shareholders reject the Deutsche Börse bid

August 2005

It emerges that Macquarie, the Australian investment bank, is preparing a bid for the LSE

November 2005

Competition Commission probe into takeover approaches for the LSE clears the path for bids from Deutsche Börse and Euronext

December 2005

LSE rejects outright what it calls a "derisory" offer of £1.48 billion from Macquarie. Days later the LSE rejects a hostile £1.5 billion bid from Macquarie on the same grounds

March 2006

LSE rejects a £2.4 billion takeover bid from Nasdaq, the New York exchange

November 2006

Nasdaq goes hostile with its £2.7 billion bid for the LSE after it is again rejected

January 2007

NYSE and others, including Goldman Sachs, take stakes totalling 20 per cent - worth $460 million - in the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE)

February 2007

Deutsche Börse takes a 5 per cent stake in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)

March 2007

Singapore Exchange takes a 5 per cent stake in BSE

April 2007

NYSE and Euronext merge, in the largest combination of its kind to date, creating a market worth $20 billion

May 2007

Nasdaq unveils an agreed £1.9 billion cash-and-shares offer for OMX

August 2007

LSE shareholders approve a £1.08 billion purchase of Borsa Italiana

Borse Dubai gatecrashes Nasdaq's approved bid for OMX by attempting to take a 25 per cent stake in the Nordic exchange

Borse Dubai unveils a £2 billion offer for OMX

Nasdaq announces intention to offload its £800 million stake in the LSE to boost its bid for OMX

Borse Dubai faces a fresh probe into its bid for OMX from Sweden's top market regulator, the FinansInspektionen, after it was found guilty of illegally buying up OMX shares

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