It was just a matter of time before Bob Greifeld made his move. Amid early February's sudden flurry of mergers and acquisitions in the global exchange landscape, the under pressure chief executive of Nasdaq OMX was left with little choice but to make headlines.

Now, it appears he has. According to reports, the US exchange that made its name listing technology stocks is in talks with Intercontentinal Exchange, the US derivatives market. The New York Times said the talks are with the intention of making a joint bid for NYSE Euronext.