French brokerage Newedge today unveiled plans for an extensive restructure that will see the company split out its execution business into an agency only broker. The announcement comes amid a hostile trading and regulatory environment that "calls for action", the company's chief executive said.

Newedge, which is jointly owned by French banks Crédit Agricole and Societe Generale and which has been up for sale for more than a year, according to reports, said in a statement this afternoon that it would split its futures clearing and execution businesses into two separate entities.