With less than six months to go until the European Union's new trading rulebook comes into force, time is running out for firms to ensure they have ticked all the necessary boxes to avoid any regulatory mis-steps.

But this week, two of the world's largest hedge fund firms were reported to have ditched their licences to operate under the EU's revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, with lawyers suggesting they had done so to avoid certain rules under Mifid II.