As Americans head to the polls to elect their president for the next four years, policy makers and lobbyists in the US and Europe's financial markets are speculating over the impact the result will have on the roadmap for regulatory change in both regions.

The US will today choose between Democratic president Barack Obama and his Republican adversary Mitt Romney in a race that, at the time of writing, has no clear favourite. Issues at the heart of both candidates' campaigns include the US economy and the reform of the country's financial markets, the latter having since been enshrined under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street and Consumer Protection Act.