Banks have wasted little time in evaluating options for their proprietary trading desks. In some cases they are shutting them down or spinning them out, even though it could be four years before new capital regulations – the so-called Volcker Rule – come into force.

A London-based headhunter who is working with several prop teams said: "What surprised all of us is the number of banks within two to three months of all of this being passed that said they just wanted to get out of this business."