Does it matter?

Well, I suppose it must. But what are we to make of it? The Independent reports:

The London Stock Exchange prepared itself yesterday for another takeover battle after strongly rejecting its fifth bid in less than two years.
LSE's chief executive, Clara Furse, said the £2.7bn "final" offer from America's Nasdaq, worth £2.9bn when the exchange's debt is taken into account, "fails to recognise the outstanding growth record and prospects of our group on a standalone basis, let alone the exchange's unique global position". She also flatly refused the Nasdaq's offer of talks.

Does it matter that the Yanks are seeking to take over Europe's stock exchanges, while at the same time the City banks (mainly US-owned) are seeking to break away?

Nasdaq acted after the sharp fall in the LSE's share price caused by the announcement of the launch of a major competitor by seven of the City's biggest investment banks last week. "Project Turquoise" aims to create a pan-European share trading platform that will sharply cut the price of trading in the Continent's biggest stocks, potentially eating into the LSE's business.
Both Nasdaq and the LSE also face a serious competitive challenge from the merger of the New York Stock Exchange with Paris-based Euronext.

Ken Livingstone obviously thinks so:

The exchange's rejection of the offer was backed by London mayor Ken Livingstone, who called it "anti-competitive" and "against the interests of London".
He added: "London's financial and business services have boomed over the last decade not only because they have been able to escape excessively rigid regulatory control, such as the US Sarbanes-Oxley Act, but because they have positively invested in innovatory products, for example the huge success of AIM."

Is the mayor simply playing the protectionist card? And does it matter when the big city players are already US-owned and intending to go their own way anyway? Is more regulatory control necessarily a bad thing? Think not only about Enron, but also about Farepak...

Big issues, but you will struggle to read anything about them outside the financial pages. And what does Mr Balls, Minister for the City, think? He may deign to tell us in due course, probably after any decisions have been made. Maybe someone will raise the issue in Parliament?