ABSTRACT
In the summer of 1986 the City of London was an exciting place, where there was a very special feeling of newness, of adventure, of setting out into unknown territories. Opportunities were there to be seized and risks to be taken. The world seemed to be divided into those who possessed the knowledge, courage or sheer cheek to take the opportunities and to accept the risks and the others who were merely competent, diligent and dull. Energy and daring often seemed quite as important as financial expertise although that quality was present, too. A senior manager in a most respected British merchant bank told the writer that it was traders, barrow boys, that were needed, but he hired graduates. At another firm, where broker-dealers had been absorbed into a financial conglomerate, a distinguised senior partner from the former broking house expressed concern at the problem of dealer burn-out The City had become powerful, cruel and aware of the need to adapt and compete. Often, though, it did not fully understand the processes which were at work; it is learning to do so.
