Mr Hayward, who resigned from BP in the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster, became a senior independent director of Glencore after the commodities group listed on the stock market in 2011.

BBC: Xstrata logo

The first Comet superstore opened in Hull in 1968 and the company was listed on the stock market two years later.

BBC: Job loss fear as Hull-based Comet faces administration

Another likely contender is South African Breweries (SAB), which has been attempting to gain a foothold in the UK market for some time and is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

BBC: Byers 'to force Carling sale'

"If we are ourselves taking advantage of the stock market as a listed company, we should demonstrate our belief in the system by investing there, " he argues.

CNN: PRETTY IN PINK SLUMP

The partial nationalisation will be a controversial operation, because it will lead to huge losses for many thousands of Spanish investors, who bought shares in Bankia and provided it with loan capital when it was listed on the stock market last year.

BBC: Will Spain suffer an Irish bust?

The question for persons interested not only in a profitable short term trade but in the longer term growth and health of the Japanese stock market is inevitably about the listed companies themselves.

FORBES: Whither Japan Stocks: Investors Saying 'Show Me Growth'; Sharp On Life Support