National Pride is not something to be trifled with or discounted out-of-hand.  Look what's happening across the border in Canada.  Just when it appeared that the London Stock Exchange Group had beaten back its competition for the Toronto Stock Exchange, in swoops a reinforced Maple Group Acquisition Corp. - the consortium that last month mounted a counterbid for TMX.  

Maple currently includes Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD Bank), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), Bank of Nova Scotia, National Bank of Canada and 5 Canadian pension plans. 

Now, Desjardins Financial Group, one of Quebec's largest financial services companies, and Toronto-based independent dealers GMP Capital and Dundee Capital Markets are among the firms in negotiations to join the consortium.  

The TMX board has said it opposes Maple's bid - but it looks like the deal won't be settled until the shareholders vote later this month.   [WSJournal, 6/7/11]