Officials at MTS, the dominant eurozone government bond trading platform, are drawing up plans that would allow hedge funds to directly participate in its market for the first time and potentially lead to a wider shake-up of the European market.

The plans, which are being discussed with Citadel, the hedge fund, and Getco, the trading group, government issuers, and investment banks, are controversial - not least because they could potentially undermine the control that the banks now wield over the eurozone government bond market with their exclusive access to the MTS platform.