The US subprime crisis ended one of the biggest bull markets to date but will it cause corporates to revert back to cash? Frances Maguire reports.

Swift’s new CEO, Lázaro Campos, talks to Frances Maguire about his plans for Swift in the immediate future and beyond, including regionalisation, courting US institutions and working on the integration of portals.

More than a year after the Giovannini Group’s original deadline for removal of all 15 barriers to the creation of an integrated clearing and settlement system for European securities trades, only one barrier has been fully removed. 

The US and European stock exchanges have long dealt with competition from alternative trading systems, but with the challenge from Project Turquoise, is this trend likely to go global? Frances Maguire reports.

Despite huge technological advances, firms still issue clunky, non-standardised activity announcements – that can be misinterpreted. Frances Maguire assesses the industry’s attempts to automate the process.

The securities lending market has grown up around bilateral dealing and sealed bids. Frances Maguire asks if a new electronic trading platform will convince the industry to change.

The European Commission is reviewing pre-trade and post-trade transparency in the bond market. Frances Maguire asks if the bond market’s self regulation could prevent mandatory transparency requirements, similar to the equities market.

The delay of the Payments Services Directive means that the Single Euro Payments Area will go live in a phased approach. Frances Maguire looks at the impact this will have.

The Code of Conduct for Clearing and Settlement is being hailed as an important step in pulling down the barriers to cost-effective, cross-border clearing and settlement in Europe.

Target2-Securities, the European Central Bank’s controversial proposal to build a single settlement platform for euro-based securities, would split settlement from custody. Do the proposals go too far or not far enough, asks Frances Maguire.