Finance, a venue for perfect competition: the Deutsche Bank

Abstract

In recent years the banking industry has seen more change than almost any sector of the economy. The information/communications revolution has had a dramatic impact on the finance sector, an impact whose consequences are still unfolding (see the Strategies in Action in Chapter 7 on Charles Schwab and John Doerr). By improving access to information, the revolution has in theory made all the various markets for financial services more integrated and efficient. The efficient operation of a market depends on:

• the speed at which price or product information is communicated

• how much information can be processed and how quickly

• having many buyers and many sellers

• having homogeneous products.