by Ed Blount (Reprinted from the Banking Journal of the American Bankers Association, May 1981)
The nature of the securities business has changed dramatically in the last decade. A full understanding of those changes is necessary in order to appreciate the challenges facing the industry in the Eighties. Impressive strides have been made since the days of the back-office disaster scenes in the late Sixties and early Seventies that forced over 100 brokerage firms to go "belly up." Virtually all major brokers have automated their order entry process. Many have also developed the ability to interface these front-end systems with clearing banks, other brokers, and with industry facilities such as the Trade Comparison Service, Continuous Net Settlement System, and Institutional Delivery System each of which was introduced in the last decade.