A Historic Day in Financial Services

Good morning from Vienna -- I'm here to attend the Sibos payments conference, which opens this morning (Monday, Sept. 15).I have a full day of appointments scheduled with exhibitors (technology companies and banks) that want to talk about their new solutions geared to making the payments process more efficient and secure. But the buzz on the floor today no doubt is going to be about the news that greeted me when I woke up this morning - that Lehman Brothers plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, that Bank of America plans to acquire Merrill Lynch, and that struggling insurance giant AIG plans to restructure. It's certainly possible that the headlines may change by the time the markets open in New York, but clearly today is going to be a huge day in the history of financial services. But, you know, payments, shmayments. The big news of the day, as far as I am concerned, is that Chicago Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano threw a no-hitter against the hated Houston Astros last night (in Milwaukee, where the game was moved after Hurricane Ike shut down the Astros' stadium). Go Cubbies!

Katherine Burger is Editorial Director of Bank Systems & Technology and Insurance & Technology, members of UBM TechWeb's InformationWeek Financial Services. She assumed leadership of Bank Systems & Technology in 2003 and of Insurance & Technology in 1991. In addition to ... View Full Bio