Douglas Cifu, the chief executive and co-founder of the $6.1bn electronic trading firm Virtu Financial, does not seem to mind if people think he is ruthless. Asked about slashing the staff levels of KCG Holdings, which Virtu acquired last year, he said: “I don’t run offices that don’t make money.”

The $1.4bn deal for rival KCG gave the Nasdaq-listed Virtu, which generates most of its market-making revenue in equities but also trades options, fixed income, currencies and commodities, a major presence in executing trades on behalf of banks and institutional investors.