What is fundamental about the dealing rooms of the future is that they will be changed. The days when every dealing room had a Reuters screen, and nothing else, have long gone. With the break-up of Bridge Information Systems and news of dramatic staff cuts at Reuters, it seems the financial market data providers, too, are caught up in this shift in strategy. The internet, and the freer movement of electronically distributed information, is only part of this shift.

While every effort is made to ensure the trader's screen changes as little as possible, behind the scenes there is a significant rethink going on over how banks receive and process vast amounts of data and prices in the future. In response to this, the financial information providers are changing as fast as they can to ensure they are an integral part of users' future strategy.