Gearing up the tandem

The combination of Chase and Chemical always held the prospect of creating a foreign-exchange giant able to challenge Citibank's number-one position. But for the former Chemical managers - who dominate the new operation - the tough challenge will be to integrate the two banks' very different styles: can the old Chase's customer-oriented salesmen pedal at the same speed as Chemical's traders? By Steven Irvine

April 9, 1996. Dawn is breaking over London. Down by the Thames in Vintners Place, weary technicians, who’ve worked 28 hours non-stop, are coaxing into normality the last of a bunch of temperamental computer feeds. Eight months of planning and a four-day Easter weekend of frenetic activity are about to reach their climax.

The trading-room is switched on almost without a hitch. Worldwide, the integration of 28 trading centres of the former Chase Manhattan and Chemical Bank passes off smoothly as foreign-exchange dealing starts.

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