Over a quick lunch between conference panels at Euromoney's
Borrowers and Investors Forum, held last month at the London Hilton
Hotel, the treasurer of one of the biggest liability managers
voiced his growing frustration with the slow pace at which leading
banks and investment banks are embracing the internet.
His particular annoyance is over derivatives.
It would be enormously useful for his institution to be able to
deal in a transparent swaps market, preferably with some kind of
exchange-like margining facility to accommodate lower-rated
counterparties, and ideally with automatic execution and efficient
processing thrown in.
The treasurer had been doing the rounds of the banks asking how
close their online risk management offerings, both proprietary and
multi-dealer, might be to providing this. He had not been
encouraged. His conclusion is that the hidden agenda of many banks
that claim to be pushing the frontiers of e-finance is to obstruct
and delay any real change...
