THE New York Stock Exchange is considering appointing Goldman Sachs, the former employer of John Thain, its chief executive, to help out on any bid for the London Stock Exchange or another European market, The Times has learnt.

The NYSE, which has made no secret of its wish to expand, is quietly sounding out a select group of Wall Street banks, including Goldman, to join Citigroup as adviser.

Citigroup has already begun talking to big LSE shareholders to see if they would be prepared to sell their shares in the event of an all-out takeover battle for the London exchange. The NYSE’s fierce rival, Nasdaq, swooped to buy a 14.9 per cent stake in the London market last week after an earlier takeover approach was rebuffed.

Wall Street sources told The Times last night that Mr Thain is considering asking Goldman to join his team of advisers should the Big Board decide to launch a bid for the LSE or Euronext, the Paris-based company that operates four continental exchanges.

Appointing Goldman would reignite a controversy that dogged the NYSE while it was striking its recent merger with Archipelago, the electronic share-trading firm. Mr Thain is a former top executive from Goldman, while the investment bank was a major founding shareholder in Archipelago.

Goldman was left out from the team of leading underwriters for the NYSE’s forthcoming $2 billion share offering, in an attempt by the NYSE to shake off the row over any conflict of interest.

In addition, eyebrows were raised in Europe when the bank was hired by Macquarie, the Australian bank, in an earlier offer for the LSE after advising yet another earlier bidder, Deutsche Börse.

A Goldman source said that the bank had not been approached by the NYSE but emphasised that the row over conflicts of interest was in the past and would not preclude it doing advisory work.

The NYSE released its first set of financial results after the close of trade on Wall Street last night. But in a surprise move, Mr Thain will not take part in a conference call with Wall Street advisers and analysts scheduled for 8.30am today in New York. Nelson Kai, the chief financial officer, who joined the NYSE board from Archipelago, will take his place.

An NYSE source said that a decision had been made to let Mr Kai run all conference calls in the future. It is also understood that the NYSE will decline to give Wall Street profits forecasts, following in the footsteps of Google, the internet company.

DIFC TAKES STAKE IN EURONEXT

THE fledgeling Dubai International Financial Centre has emerged as a 1.27 per cent shareholder in Euronext, the continental exchanges operator that is one of the potential bidders for the London Stock Exchange.

The move is part of a consolidation of world stock markets that has seen virtually every big player cast as either a predator or a bid candidate.

Already the LSE has attracted the interest of six potential bidders or merger partners, while Euronext has also been linked with Deutsche Börse and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

The DIFC, which opened in September 2004, refused to give a full reason for its investment.

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