FX poll 1986: Be big - and bright. (bank marketing on internationalmarkets)

BE BIG -- AND BRIGHT

As the world's foreign exchange markets grow giddy with volatility, there's a delicate but impenetrable curtain being drawn between the banks which are committed market-makers and those which, fearful of the bruising size and unpredictability of today's international currency rates, have opted to secure themselves within the niches they already enjoy. At a time when the dollar can whiplash four or five cents up and down within the same day, only the biggest and bravest spot teams can afford to keep quoting both sides of the market.

That's one of the key findings of this year's poll of corporate treasurers: size is more important than ever. The big banks are confirmed in their positions as price-providers to the world's corporate treasuries; and the ability to keep quoting through all markets is an increasingly prized and voted-for faculty.

The other significant trend indicated by the outcome of...