Jim Cielinski, head of bonds at £320 billion manager Columbia Threadneedle, has warned that the European over-the-counter market, which hosts the majority of trading, “is not fit for purpose”.

The system, which requires market-makers to provide specific price quotes for asset managers when buying or selling a security, is "simply obsolete", according to Cielinski, who added that it had "no chance of keeping up with the deluge of liquidity-driven growth".