Cash & Liquidity Management
Published  6 MIN READ
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Nordic Capital Markets, Corporates and Investors in the Credit Crunch

by Thomas Begley, Senior Director & Head of Fixed Income, Debt Capital Markets and Timo Teinilä, Director & Head of Capital Structure and Credit Ratings Advisory, Nordea

Problems of de-personalised finance

Capital markets have always been a platform of innovation. Over the last 20-30 years this innovation was significantly driven by deregulation and technology. Deregulation encouraged new methods and tools of financial intermediation and their application to a wider range of issuers and investors. Communication technology allowed linking market participants ever faster so that new issuance and investment opportunities could be offered to a global audience. Increased computing power made it possible to handle greater volumes of data on new asset classes, and to slice and dice portfolios into a range of new and more complex products that fit different tastes for risk.

From a system where ‘I invest into someone I know and understand’ we have moved to a less personal system where ‘I invest into what can be modelled.

More powerful computing and data transfer also allow to slice the credit process into different tasks that can then be subcontracted to various specialists: brokers originate assets, structurers and arrangers repackage them, servicers handle cash flows, various agents monitor their performance etc. All of this has had a profound impact of de-personalising finance. From a system where ‘I invest into someone I know and understand’ we have moved to a less personal system where ‘I invest into what can be modelled’.

This development has brought real benefits to participants in capital markets. It has broadened borrowers’ access to capital, and enabled investors to diversify their risks. Banks and other intermediaries have been able to pursue different business models that in their view best matched their strengths and ambitions. However, times of crisis reveal the weaknesses of the modern world of finance. The criticism includes: