Does the Securities and Exchange Commission know something that we don't about the current rash of mergers between European stock exchanges? In an interview last week, Isaac C Hunt, one of the five commissioners on the SEC, was asked about the impact of globalisation on financial regulation.

'Clearly, we have seen a lot of cross-border trading of securities, and there is talk of a merger of several exchanges - London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam,' he said. Just what exactly does George Moeller, head of Amsterdam Exchanges, have up his sleeve?