This time last year, I sent a simple question to many of the market’s most senior figures: Has the perception of the FX business changed in your institution? Most of the answers I got were not very informative. But that has not deterred me from asking it again this year for the 2009 FX poll.
In 2008, FX bosses were still willing to throw out a few platitudes to the rest of their bank’s business lines. This year, I don’t think they will be so generous. Here is one early response from a global FX head: “We get a lot of attention from senior people in this institution. When the CEO comes down he always comes by FX and asks how we’re doing. That would not have been true in the past. I don’t think the previous CEO knew who I was. The current CEO knows who I am and if he comes on to the FX floor and I’m not around, he asks where I am.”