All of the firms are coping with the added costs of new regulation and the need to change their business models to accommodate a world of fewer floor-based specialists and greater automation.
Market forces and models are useful tools but strong supervision and regulation should always be in the first line of defense in protecting our financial system.
CRISIL, an impressive outfit, is furthest down this path with half its sales from abroad, mainly from helping banks with equity research and risk-management models, demand for which has soared thanks to more regulation in the rich world.