The US administration's unilateral clampdown on the over-the-counter derivatives market may have surprised some in the level of its ferocity – but any Europeans hoping that it will spark a repeat of the economic exodus from Wall Street that followed in the wake of the Interest Equalisation Tax in the 1960s or Sarbanes Oxley four decades later may be in for an unpleasant surprise.

European rules are likely to be every bit as draconian.