Finance directors of all the companies on the Stock Exchange can feel justly proud of their London listing - and they should all be raising a glass to LSE chief executive Clara Furse who has just been made a Dame in the Queen's Birthday Honours.

The LSE was once regarded as little more than an EBay for stocks and shares, and seemed destined to fall into foreign hands - be they Swedish, German or American.

Dame Clara has breathed new life into the market, attracting foreign companies to London. As a result of her efforts, a London listing still means something to the companies traded on it - and certainly much more than if the LSE were just a subsidiary of some foreign bourse.