There is no firm proposal on the table at the moment and any comment in the media that the Financial Conduct Authority has reached a position should be discounted totally, FCA Chief Executive Andrew Bailey said at a Bloomberg event.

"We are listening, we are observing," Bailey said, adding that the FCA would only take a position once a firm proposal has been made. A bid would need approval from the FCA and several other regulators from across the world to go ahead.

(Reporting by Huw Jones; editing by Jason Neely)