Banks struggle to deliver their internet promises

At the start of 2000, many banks trumpeted their ability to distribute new bond issues online, fearful of being left behind by eager issuers. At the same time their trading sides announced, often with great fanfare, their own new internet-based trading sites and new multi-dealer platforms put together among consortia of banks. Since then, banks have struggled to deliver on these systems and to integrate them properly. Some now think the internet will merely make the existing market model more efficient, not overthrow it. But a few still hanker for revolutionary change in the bond market. Peter Lee reports