The news follows July’s announcement that the bourse was conducting a strategic review of all clearing operations. LSE chief executive Xavier Rolet left the board of the bourse’s long-time clearer, LCH.Clearnet, last month.

The news makes it more likely that the LSE will build its own, vertical silo-modelled clearing house, rather than expanding the operations of Borsa Italiana’s clearing house, Cassa di Compensazione e Garanzia.

Rolet’s announcement at June’s IDX conference –- met with scorn in some quarters –- that the bourse hoped to compete in European equity derivatives trading by combining its two derivatives markets, EDX London and the Italian Derivatives Exchange Market, may be the first hurdle in gaining the support of clearing firms.

In July, head of markets Nicolas Bertrand said the bourse would not “offer the full, complete universe in one go on EDX or Idem”, with new products mainly based on French, Dutch, German and eventually Spanish stocks.