The first lady of the London Stock Exchange—and the first woman to hold that position at the three-century-old bourse—spent much of the past year fending off bids from suitors in Germany and the U.S., including one from Nasdaq, which already owns 25% of its shares. So far Furse, 49, who was born in Canada of Dutch parents and went to school in Colombia, has kept the wolves at bay, while boosting revenue last year by 19%, to $520 million.