Modern equity markets work so much better than their fixed income counterparts. The transparency of continuously clearing electronic trading in shares is preferable to old-style bond markets where middlemen give you a price on demand and take a big cut. That, at least, seems to be the attitude of regulators.

The view that an increasing shift in the fixed income markets towards equity-style trading is inevitable and desirable seems to be shared by many banks. Just look at the number of trading heads who now hail from the equity side of the shop.