Top of the Swaps

摘要

Keep in mind that when I came to Bankers Trust, the swaps business was very different than what it is today. It was essentially like doing private placements: You had to find two parties that were interested in the opposite sides of a deal and put them together at the same time. We weren't the only firm doing swaps — Salomon Brothers and Morgan Stanley also did them — but it was always matched contracts. The biggest change was when it became a business where you simply booked the swap yourself and hedged it, in the foreign exchange or Treasury market or wherever, until you could find a counterparty that would be close to the other side.