Top City firms invest in banking strategy as e-commerce battle heats up further

COMMERCE COMPETITORS: firms launch electronic products for banking clients

City firms Allen & Overy and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have stepped up the e-commerce battle between the top firms by launching products aimed at their banking clients.Freshfields pitched for the contract to develop 'esearch' for its client Deutsche Bank, and is currently piloting the site with three other investment bank clients.

The extranet is aimed at international and investment banks and isintended to help them devisee-commerce strategies by outlining relevant European rules.Allen & Overy has entered into a strategic alliance with Lombard Risk Systems, part of Lombard Risk Management, to offer their combined client base risk management and measurement over the Internet.

Lombard Risk Management boasts 60 of the top 100 banks as clients.

Both firms plan to charge subscriptions to be negotiated case by case.Freshfields intends to extend the advice outside Europe to the US, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Australia.

Where it does not have offices - in nine of the 17 European jurisdictions - it is using local firms.

It has selected practices with which it has close working relationships in Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland.Freshfields' training, knowledge and recruitment managing partner, Hugh Crisp, said the service offered to investment banks will next be rolled out to non-banking sector clients.

'It's going to be an integral part of giving advice,' he said.Many banks already have risk management IT systems in place.

Lombard Risk's software is focused on netting and international swap agreements and will allow in-house lawyers to take preliminary strategic decisions.

Lombard Risk's chairman, John Wisbey, said his company and Allen & Overy have common clients and are also linked through the International Swaps and Derivatives Association.

Lombard Risk financed the software development, which has taken more than a year.

Mr Wisbey said: 'This alliance will help us get the software right first time and also give Allen & Overy greater ability to benefit from technology'.

Anne Mizzi