Trader WLTM Terrorist

I've had a few comments on the fact that I keep blogging about the business of banking rather than my normal focal points: technologies, regulations, payments and my real passion which is the future of banking.

The thing is that the future of banking, right now, is all about: "is there one?"

Of course there is, but what does it look like.  That's where I'm looking.

I'll write more about that next week, but it does put the usual suspects onto the back burner I'm afraid.  However, there is still a fair amount developing in these areas.

We still have banks investing in technologies, such as Banco Popolare di Milano rollout of new branch technologies. 

We still have SEPA and the Payments Services Directive in play in November, probably, and the ongoing debate between the European Commission and the Cards industry over transactions fees rumbles on.

And we still have MiFID's ramifications rolling through Europe, with Thomson Reuters' launching a consolidated tape to overcome MiFID's fragementation of market data.

So yes, some things are continuing as usual but, as mentioned, the usual suspects are on the backburner for a while as we wonder exactly where this industry is going.

The reason for mentioning all this is that I flew with BA recently and noted this advert in their business mag for a Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF), one of the new electronic equities trading exchanges created as a result of MiFID:

I just quite like the amusing method of using personal ads as trader's tools, such as "alpha personality, lonely, no-one understands what I do, would like to keep it that way - WLTM (would like to meet) innovative partner to execute ideas".

I wonder what Jerome Kerviel, the trader who lost Societe Generale billions in 2007, would have posted after admitting this week that he 'hit the jackpot' as a result of the London bombings in 2005:

"Useless trader, arrogant and stupid, just lost bills - WLTM terrorist to recover positions"?