The London Stock Exchange yesterday took a step towards launching a panEuropean share trading business by picking Fidessa, a trading technology company, and BNP Paribas, as partners for Baikal, its planned block trading platform.

The launch signals recognition by the LSE that a pan-European share trading market is emerging in the wake of Mifid, the Brussels directive that liberalised share trading in the region, and that it must expand.