Editorial: The empire strikes back

The panic’s over. We can all go back to normal. We’ve got it all under control. That’s the message now coming from the investment banking world as we wind down for Christmas.

It’s very different to the mood at the same point last year. Following the rush to invest in a variety of independent equities platforms in 1999, especially in the US, and after everyone staggered through the millennium bug, the focus shifted first to the credit markets and then to foreign exchange.

Banks made a series of announcements, first about proprietary platforms, and then about linking up with competitors to form multi-dealer platforms. The amount of people leaving to join start-ups has also slowed considerably, and is even flowing back the other way.

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