President Obama’s administration signalled last month that it would do what everyone had long predicted and reform the over-the-counter derivatives sector. But while its announcement on June 17 adopted a tough stance on technical matters, such as setting position limits and margin requirements, it was vague on the big issues of central clearing and exchange trading.

David Clark, chairman of the Wholesale Market Brokers' Association, which lobbies on behalf of members in Europe and the US, said: "Thinking among policymakers has moved on a long way since the end of last year, but there is clearly a lot that still needs to be agreed between regulators before concrete proposals can be implemented."