Banks provide an important service to firms if they assist them in selecting instruments suited to their characteristics. The purpose must be the hedging of risk, not anything else.
6 According to research at the OECD, advances in communications technology mean that up to 1 in 5 services are now tradable, although this potential has only just begun to be tapped. 7 Cross-border capital flows are now roughly 15 per cent of global GDP, compared with 3 per cent at the turn of the last century.