government debt and lsh, owned by lse clears most of the u.s. treasury swap transactions.re going to get an american view weighing in here, too, even if the view from london gets better. >> even if the view from london, even if the view from china gets better, so a huge amount of political challenge surrounding this deal. now just honing in on the timing from hong kong's perspective, it's hardly the best backdrop given the escalation and tensions on the ground in hong kong why do you think they've stepped forward to launch this offer now? >> well, it's a very interesting question because i think the idea first came about over a year ago, but clearly they have decided that with the lse refintive deal their hand was pushed somewhat and they had no choice but to push ahead >> reporter: now, do you think that hong kong exchange has a backup plan? if lse doesn't work out, what's the opportunity for them at that point? >> well, certainly, you know, the intellectual positioning in terms of connecting east v west makes a lot of sense at a intellectual level the problem will be who