Leave the plumbing to the experts

I love doing DIY. It’s a great break from the monotony of office life. I can swap my computer keyboard for a hammer, saw or paintbrush and re-live my youth as an aprenntice builder. My wife is supportive of my efforts as long as I a) prioritise what she wants completed and b) don’t touch the plumbing. Point a) is negotiable (sometimes) but point b) is something that I agree with completely - far too easy to get something wrong and wind up mopping up buckets-worth of water or worse! Most of my pipes were laid years ago and the lattice of pipes supporting fresh water, hot water, waste water, etc is all balanced perfectly.

Our capital markets infrastructure for cash, derivatives, commodities and other product classes is connected through a number of “pipes.” This intricate structure has been laid over many years. And it works.

Over the years it has become more complicated and intertwined with the advent of new products and services, as well as the introduction and implementation of various regulatory policies. We have learned through this evolutionary process that not everything is straight forward and can be changed quickly. There are unintended consequences that not even our experienced “plumbers” have foreseen.

Let’s hope the policy makers heed the words of Steven Maijoor and others. The last thing I would want is my fresh water and waste water pipes to be mixed up.