Investment bank
Lehman Brothers has filed for bankruptcy and Bank of America
has agreed to rescue investment bank Merill Lynch for $50m, as
the latest casualties of the credit crunch sent more shockwaves
through the global banking sector.
The financial crisis will create a major IT upheaval as
businesses, struggling during the downturn, integrate and attempt
to cut costs and shore up business.
The IT departments of financial services firms across Europe,
responsible for the employment of hundreds of thousands of IT
workers as well as the support of a wider IT industry, will
continue to consolidate and cut jobs.
PJ Di Giammarino, CEO at financial services think-tank JWG-IT,
said, "In Europe we estimate that there are hundreds of thousands
of IT workers in the financial services sector. But there are a
bigger number of people affected by consolidation because it
affects all the suppliers to the industry."
As the banking giants look for ways of surviving the
industry's downturn, accountancy firm Pricewaterhousecoopers
(PwC) has been named administrator for Lehman Brothers' European
headquarters in London.
Tony Lomas, joint administrator and PwC partner, said in a
statement, "Because the group managed its funding on a global
basis, the UK trading operation found itself unable to meet its
obligations when the flow of funds dried up last night. Our
priority now is to work with management and trading counterparties
to agree the manner in which the assets and liabilities will be
handled."
"Clearly the market turmoil calls for consolidation and the
businesses that are consolidating need to consolidate the cost
base. The IT of companies involved has to become rationalised and
support a bigger business," said Di Giammarino.
Citigroup slashes £1.5bn from IT budget