Sefs find liquidity comes at a cost

Banks have been reluctant to pick winners and losers from the array of new derivatives trading platforms being set up, but with Citi and Morgan Stanley taking equity stakes in two venues at the end of last year, it looks like some dealers are finally making their minds up. By Tom Newton

The rules of musical chairs are simple: participants walk round a set of chairs while music plays. When the music stops, everyone has to sit down. The drama is added by the fact that there are fewer chairs than people, so slow movers miss out and have to leave the game.

Would-be swap execution facilities (Sefs) have been playing their own drawn-out version of musical chairs for the past three years. Many have given up and gone home. Despite initial estimates that the Dodd-Frank Act would give