Electronic commerce and wholesale financial services Available to Purchase

International wholesale financial markets have long been used to exploiting the cutting edge of technology to find more efficient ways of doing business. But now new electronic technologies are changing the structure and dynamics of markets themselves as seldom before, and the rate of change is increasing. To enable financial markets and the investors and entrepreneurs who use them to obtain maximum benefit, governments and regulators need to be careful not to constrain these developments by reference to traditional structures and standards which may no longer be appropriate. They should instead embrace the benefits which change brings, and radically re‐examine legal and regulatory frameworks in the light of the evolving landscape of opportunity and risk. This re‐analysis should take into account that the transparency and competitiveness of e‐commerce is bringing about a new alignment between investor protection, market stability and commercial advantage. Policy should be developed in partnership with users of the markets. The authorities will also need to take into account how new technologies are, as never before, globalising world markets — competitive advantage will go to wherever the most market‐friendly equilibrium is struck and maintained between commercial freedom and regulation.