MTS, the dominant eurozone government bond trading platform, has approved plans to allow non-banks such as hedge funds to participate directly in its market for the first time in a move that is sure to spark controversy among investment banks.

MTS’s Supervisory Board had “unanimously approved” plans to amend the existing EuroMTS rules to allow “non-banking entities with broker-dealer status” on to the London-based inter-dealer government bond platform, the group said in a statement released after the market closed.