The attempt by Nasdaq OMX to launch a derivatives market in Europe is a year old and it has been trumpeting its progress in building liquidity. However, data seen by Financial News shows that the majority of its trading in Euribor contracts is taking place in two narrow time windows each day in a way that allows firms to collect a share of the £50,000-a-week cash incentive that Nasdaq OMX pays to encourage trading. Outside these two windows, trading volumes are drastically lower.

It's a demonstration of the challenge faced by any trading venue trying to crash into a new market: no one wants to be the first to move on to a new trading venue because it has low liquidity - but liquidity won't build until banks and traders move over.