Technology changing the markets

"Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal" Albert Einstein

In previous articles I have outlined the progression technology in the City that began to almost revolutionise the securities market in London. By the early to mid-seventies the amount of business transacted on the Stock Exchange was miniscule when compared to today's business.

The bargains  were dealt mostly face to face on the Stock Exchange floor with a smaller number over the telephone. This clearly led to missmatches                    of bargains that were minimalized when the electronic checking system Charm was introduced. This was followed by the Bargain accounting                   system that the Stock Exchange introduced to bring greater efficiencies in the settlement of the bargains between Jobbers and Brokers. The market was now set for the next development that brought everything together under the name Talisman.

Talisman was developed by the Stock Exchange to centralise settlement within its system, netting off various Jobber's  bargains, creating a net settlement figure that was paid to the Stock Exchange, which in turn paid the Brokers.

Overnight the number of paper cheque payments was diminished to a fraction, leading to a reduced requirement for messengers.

It also meant that a very high percentage of Stock Exchange bargains were settled on Account Day (more in a future article) or soon after. This had an enormous impact on reducing the numbers of paper transfer forms and registrations at the Registrar.

Talisman operated as a single Nominee (SEPON), in effect an electronic book entry. Not for all the market but certainly for Jobbers. The improved efficiency of bargain settlements, increased the capacity to transact more bargains and the capability to manage financial requirements, reduced the likelihood of Firms defaulting. There was certainly greater capability to  credit and risk although in those days it would have not been recognised as such.

Talisman was the first major project I was directly involved with as I took up my new responsibilities as Office Manager. I can still remember a Jobbers                 meeting when Les Turtle, the Office Manager of Wedd Durlacher (One of the largest Jobbers of the day that became part of BZW at Big Bang) told the London Stock Exchange that he would not join without a certain number of changes to the Talisman design. Can you imagine such power today?

In later years Talisman was often described to me as a Jobber's system.  In some ways it was, as the central clearing and settlement functionality had massive benefits for Jobbers, but a tad less  for Brokers. Nevertheless, Talisman was an important cog in the future wheel of technological developments that began to reshape the Stock Exchange and its member firms.