Investment banks have always had something of a love/hate relationship with inter-dealer brokers. For while brokers have long provided an invaluable service to banks by creating liquid and neutral inter-bank marketplaces, the banks themselves have often resented the not insubstantial brokerage fees that hit their books at the end of each month.

When e-commerce started to raise its head, it immediately presented a challenge to much of the traditional business and profits of investment banks. So it was not surprising that they should have leapt at the chance to lower their trading costs by attempting to seize back control and fee income from the inter-dealer brokerage community. Scarcely a week went by early last year without the announcement of a new electronic trading platform. Everyone, from the most blue-blooded investment banks to the smallest regional players, soon became involved in the development of online and electronic trading, often investing in as many as 10 separate efforts.