Banks must break data silos to improve pricing decisions

Data consistency is increasingly key to judging risk and reacting quickly in a crisis, writes former XVA practitioner

After a decade or so of slim pickings, where revenues slumped in the face of a sluggish global economy, enhanced oversight and new competition, double-digit returns on equity have returned to markets divisions as interest rates have backed up abruptly alongside heightened geopolitical tensions.

But despite significantly improved results for some, banks’ trading and markets divisions are under pressure from all sides. Navigating a profitable path forward is going to require firms to take a sharper