CLS to the fore

FIs want intellectual capital for cash management

Concerns during the crisis period undoubtedly resulted in some switching of bank providers. But Joerg Pinkernell, head of GTS FI product management at RBS, insists it is important to remember that, while it is technically possible to switch providers overnight, the operational hurdles are greater. “In a volatile market where settlement risk was a concern, banks avoided making changes to their providers unless they had really serious doubts about the future of individual banks,” he says.

Indeed, Pinkernell contends that, while the risk associated with individual banks was a concern to clients, the possibility of systemic failure – a domino effect caused by one or two banks failing to meet their obligations – was a greater worry.