The turmoil in the over-the-counter derivatives market – widely blamed for exacerbating the financial crisis – is prompting customers to look for alternatives to the banks that traditionally deal the contracts, according to Bernard Dan, chief executive of MF Global, one of the world’s biggest financial derivatives brokerages.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Dan said MF had opened more than 300 new institutional accounts in the three months to the end of September in the US and Europe, with OTC transactions accounting for 43 per cent of the company’s total revenues, up from 31 per cent in the same period last year.