Perhaps the most interesting development in internet investment banking involves bringing the old and new economies together into business-to-business (B2B) exchanges. A number of multinational corporates, many of which are fierce competitors - such as Scottish Power, Northern Electric and United Utilities - have teamed up with tech providers to form procurement exchanges.

'We have been developing our client relationships to bring together competitors on industry platforms,' says Piers de Montfort, the head of UK M&A at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, whose bank has advised companies on B2B exchanges in the automotive, paper, aerospace, utilities and energy industries involving up to $500bn (€520bn) in procurement spending.