A brave new world of UK financial regulation will be ushered in this year, with or without the industry's agreement. The details of the package have yet to be determined but its outline is clear: bundling and soft commissions in the securities markets will be severely limited.

Brokers traditionally offer services to fund management clients, ranging from trade execution and equity research to access to share issues. These are bundled together and provided to customers on the understanding that managers will give the brokers business.