Leading investment banks have intensified discussions to develop an alternative to established derivatives exchanges amid concern about the pricing power stemming from the planned $8bn tie-up of Chicago’s two futures exchanges.

The banks hold long-standing concerns over fee levels at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, which would control 90 per cent of US on-exchange trades. Both exchanges have raised prices over the past year since successfully repelling competition to some of their core products from rival European exchanges.