An analysis of the past is useful not only to identify the contribution that foreign banks have made to their host markets – in terms of competitiveness, innovation and the quality and quantity of services provided – but also to outline their possible future contribution.
And that is exactly what we saw a couple of weeks ago, when literally within hours of the attack on the World Trade Center--with many of the participants still grieving and with the loss of extraordinary personnel and resources--our financial system was finding ways to return to operation. Some examples will clarify this creativity of our system.