In this picture, Europe has generally lagged behind the rest of the world, but now that economic growth seems to be receding in the USA, activity is on the increase among our most important trading partners in Europe. The Danish upswing has brought unemployment down to the lowest level since the oil crisis in the 1970s.
Hedge funds have long used arrangements that allow them to execute trades with several dealers but then to consolidate the clearing and settlement of their trades at a single firm, the "prime broker." The prime broker typically provides financing and back-office accounting services to the hedge fund as well as settlement services.