Time is Money. In high frequency trading the fastest data network makes the deal. Computers trade against computers solely committed to the logic of their algorithms. Essentially, they are warring bots – money bots.
In the beginning, the intention was to use greater predictability and faster infrastructure to increase the stability of financial markets. In fact, the opposite has occurred: automation has made them more vulnerable. Moneybots love instability, where the greatest profits are to be made, and high-frequency trading is damaging the real economy. When trades take place in milliseconds, traders in the real economy are kept out of the loop. The system often relies on the discovery and exploitation of ‘cheats’ to get around restrictions.
And, as with all electronic systems, the moneybots can be hacked. Already there have been cases of flash crashes that destabilised the world’s markets. How did it come to this? We go back to their roots in the casinos of Las Vegas, where young mathematicians and physicists created algorithms and the first wearable computer to outsmart the roulette….
After the last financial crisis everyone agreed that the system needed to change. But since then, our sense of distrust in the markets has grown. Now, with fears of another bust looming, what can be done to restore trust in the bankers?
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They're bankers, traders, investment funds executives. They impoverished countries, drove millions of workers into unemployment, and triggered the rise in extremism. Ten years after the crisis, they tell their stories.
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From the director of 'Goldman Sachs: The Bank that Rules the World' comes a major new investigation into corruption at one of the world's top financial institutions – HSBC.
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