Regulation is a natural barrier to market consolidation across borders, but a second force bears on securities markets in exactly the opposite way: technology.

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In short, what we and the rest of the world are experiencing is the opposite of deflation whereby paper around the world is being devalued on the way to cautious investment and slow growth.

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But many big customers have gone the opposite way, slowing and extending their own buying cycles and focusing on how to better use what they already own.

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