Despite the global economic slowdown of the past few years, consumer banking services have kept pace in terms of total revenues and profits compared with banks’ other lines of business. A sample of large US and international banks with diversified business shows that retail banking products and services profits accounted for $184bn, representing an average of 54% of the total for 2003.
Much has been said about the need for greater consolidation in the securities industry, especially to bring together the fragmented clearing and settlement infrastructure in Europe but, as Frances Maguire finds, consolidation is not always what it is cracked up to be.
Electronic trading platform, EuroMTS last month launched what it hopes will become the main platform for trading treasury bills. To ensure the deepest possible liquidity, Euro Benchmark Treasury bills will be offered via a parallel listing on the EuroMTS Benchmark Treasury bills market and on their own MTS domestic markets.
Jim Kharouf explains how The Clearing Corporation lived on despite being dumped by the mighty Chicago Board of Trade.Dennis Dutterer is seen as the gutsy player who stood up against the bullying tactics of the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and helped forge a new era of US futures competition in which Eurex US began trading last month. “I don’t mind that,” chuckles Mr Dutterer, president and CEO of The Clearing Corporation (CCorp) – formerly the Board of Trade Clearing Corporation (BOTCC).