Louis Capital Markets, a brokerage firm, has opened talks with some of the world’s top inter-dealer brokers about a possible sale, two sources have said.

Louis Capital Markets, a multi-asset brokerage firm with offices in Hong Kong, Paris, London, New York and Houston, is said by the sources to have held sales talks with various firms in recent weeks.

The sources said the talks have centred on the world’s largest inter-dealer brokers who have the resources to help smaller firms like LCM at a time when all brokers are busy trying to keep pace with various regulatory reforms.

Michael Benhamou, the managing partner of Louis Capital Markets, declined to comment for this story.

BGC Partners, which is looking to expand its futures business and bought late last year Sunrise Brokers, another medium-sized broker, declined to comment.

Tradition, the Swiss-based inter-dealer broker, declined to comment. Nex Group, the firm formerly known as Icap that sold its voice brokers to Tullett Prebon late last year, and TP Icap, formed when that deal was completed, also declined to comment.

Louis Capital Markets, a privately-owned independent firm, was established in New York in 1999 and currently supports a range of instruments including equities, derivatives, fixed income and commodities.

The firm has 76 Financial Conduct Authority-registered staff in London, according to the FCA register.

LCM said on its website: “For each of these asset classes, we offer a host of services including macro research, stock picking strategies, value-added sales and trading, corporate access, electronic broking and liquidity providing.”

The firm also said on its homepage: “Customers include hedge funds, asset managers and the largest investment banks for which we are positioned as an execution/liquidity supplier or an investment solution provider.”

Sources have said small and medium-sized brokers, who lack the resources of larger firms like the big four inter-dealer brokers, are particularly feeling the pressure of compliance at a time when regulations are changing rapidly.

The US regulators are moving ahead with a plan to unwind some of the more draconian parts of the Dodd-Frank Act after its multi-year implementation.

The European Union is set to introduce in January next year the second version of its Mifid reforms which will affect most parts of a European trading firm’s business.

US-based broker BGC said its acquisition of Sunrise in December was consistent with its plan to make acquisitions that complement the firm’s existing capabilities.

BGC president Shaun Lynn told FOW in July: "Sunrise is a perfect acquisition, because it’s an opportunity to pick-up some fantastic assets to address areas that we have been historically deficient in."