The head of investments at Vanguard in Europe is spending the equivalent of one day a week preparing for the introduction of new trading rules, which are set to do away with decades-old ways of doing business.

Kenneth Volpert was speaking about the EU's revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, or Mifid II, at the 12th Annual European Government Bond Conference in Brussels. He said: "I probably spend at least a full day a week on Mifid. At least. It’s crunch time."