Banks' back offices were exposed by the recent crisis as inefficient, lacking in scalability and ripe for increased regulatory scrutiny. Policy-makers and regulators, meanwhile, began to call for the creation of centralised industry utilities, in a bid to reduce the systemic risk associated with the trading, processing and clearing of a variety of complex products.
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Can decision science improve customer relationship management?
October 28, 2009As rising unemployment promotes higher rates of customer delinquency, banks are having to get to know their customers all over again. Decision science can help. Writer Nicholas Pratt
India's mobile lifeline
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Mark Butterfield
September 2, 2009Mark Butterfield, CIO of Nomura for Europe, the Middle East and Africa
When Nomura acquired a chunk of Lehman Brothers' crumbling empire last year, the brunt of the integeration process fell into the hands of the IT team, which completed the challenging task in a matter of weeks. Writer Michelle Price
Customer service: Improving efficiency and service excellence
August 4, 2009The financial crisis has dramatically undermined consumer trust in the retail banking industry. It is now more vital than ever that banks are able to efficiently and effectively communicate with their customers. In this Masterclass, Howard Boville, head of global banking at BT, and Gary Bennett, director of service provider development at Avaya, discuss how banks can model their communications and technology infrastructure in order to improve the quality of their customer service. Writer Michelle Price
Mind the energy gap
August 4, 2009John Killey, head of Citi realty services for Europe, the Middle East and Africa
The growing threat of energy insecurity poses many risks to corporate institutions worldwide. Some banks are now looking to take greater control of their energy infrastructures - but there are several challenges to overcome. Writer Michelle Price
Online auctions bid for retail business
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The IT route to business excellence
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Risk management: Creating value
July 7, 2009Risk management, the lifeblood of financial services, is undergoing an identity crisis as many experts call into question the validity of traditional risk management methods. In this Masterclass, Keith Saxton, global director for financial markets at IBM, and Francis Lacan, global risk and compliance solution manager for the financial services sector at IBM, discuss how technology can help improve the measuring and monitoring of systemic risk and why internal risk management functions should be regarded as a profit centre. Writer Michelle Price
Controlling costs, Keeping customers
July 7, 2009Financial services providers are looking for better ways to manage their customer operations, with outsourcing on the list of options. This was the topic for discussion at a recent round table organised by The Banker and sponsored by Transcom Worldwide, a provider of outsourced business processes