Réseaux bancaires et financiers : une coopération multiforme sur fond de concurrence exacerbée

Abstract

Banking and financial networks : a multidimensional cooperation within a background of fierce competition Electronic finance is now going hand in hand with classical finance, within a wide « network of networks » whose strategic, human and informational components are thoroughly tied up. It is from the back-office that networks have made their appearance on the financial scene, as a series of logistics tools. But the « network cycle » contains two other stages : that of value- added services, and that of new market architectures. Banks as well as stock markets have fully reached this third stage, which is characterized by disintermediation and re-intermediation. Networks can be viewed as a three-dimensional relationship vehicle, that is : contact (provided by infrastructure), contract (provided by infostructure), and the sense of community that flows from the infoculture proper to each network. There are four types of strategic configurations that characterize cooperations : cooperative structure, « club », leader-network, and third-party network. Special emphasis has been given to the role of club and to the need of a more strategical attitude which stems from it for big cooperatives, such as SWIFT, Euroclear or CEDEL. Different cooperations settled around networks based for example on the MATIFG-DTB model already have a key role in the European monetary and financial integration, and 1996 and 1999 deadlines will see the strengthening of this dynamics.