Chapter 4 Case Study:

1
Chapter 4 Case Study

• Can Online Brokers Survive in Europe?

Brian Fasen BCIS 340
2
Whats Going On

• Online trading accounts undergo substantial
  growth
• Many online brokerage firms are introduced to
  meet high demand
• Changing market trends lead to a dramatic drop in
  online trading

3
What Happened?

• Many firms went under
• Revenues became insufficient
• Other firms forced to merge, sell, or close down

4
Leader of the Pack
Consors Discount-Broker

• Customer base explosion
• Bull Market fades and volumes plummet
• Reorganization and reconstruction begin
• Selling insurance
• Venture Capital
• Investment Banks

5
Eventual Mergers

• Consors merges with Cortal
• Modifications to the business model begin
• Introduction of new services offered to customers

Cortalconsors Homepage
6
Questions to Consider

• Is providing online financial services over the
  Internet a practical business model?
• Could similar market trends have the same impact
  on our online trading market?