Cost-cutting, restructuring and M&A were the dominant themes for the financial markets in 2004, as reflected in Finextra's top ten wholesale banking stories. Bank of America's ambitions to port its proprietary Unix systems to Linux led the way with more than 4000 page views. Cost-cutting at UBS and computer problems at Royal Bank of Canada also vied for attention. Among the vendors, IBM featured twice in the top ten, with its plans for Basel II and JPMorgan's decision to terminate its multi-billion dollar outsourcing contract winning eyeballs. The big three data vendors, Reuters, Thomson and Bloomberg, also took a bow in a year that saw all three fighting hard to maintain market share under tight budgetary constraints.

Bank of America has gone public on outline plans to port its proprietary Unix systems to Linux, ignoring the enduring threat of legal action from open source litigant SCO.

JPMorgan Chase has cancelled its multi-billion IT outsourcing contract with IBM and is bringing functions - including data centres, help desks and distributed computing, data and voice networks - and 4000 employees back in house.

Reuters CEO Tom Glocer has delivered a scathing attack to company staff in an internal e-mail, berating them for delayed product launches and technical breakdowns that are damaging the firm's reputation.

IBM has unveiled a package of software, hardware, and consulting services designed to help financial institutions meet the information management demands of the forthcoming Basel II Capital Accord.

Thomson has completed the acquisition of TradeWeb and put Jim Toffey in charge of all fixed income assets. Jilted TradeWeb suitor Reuters, meanwhile, is rumoured to be lining up a liaison with Telerate.

Swiss bank UBS is to centralise its IT infrastructure operations in a restructuring effort aimed at cutting costs.

Reuters is close to buying rival market data provider Telerate, according to a report by Dow Jones Newswires which cites an un-named source.

Financial service firms experience the highest number of malicious virus attacks compared to other industries, with almost half (48%) recording at least one severe incident in the six-month period from July to December 2003, according to research by Internet security systems vendor Symantec.

Royal Bank of Canada says it will be working over the weekend to update customer accounts following a computer glitch that has caused payroll delays for thousands of Canadian workers.

Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg has publicly said for the first time that he plans to sell the financial information business that bears his name.

Top of the retail rankings for 2004 with 4695 page views was a story about the threat to e-commerce and bank cryptography from the possible resolution of a 150-year old mathematical theory. Security was clearly a big issue for the retail community this year, with six of our top ten stories for 2004 dealing with financial crime. Bank of America's Linux ambitions and computer glitches at the Royal Bank of Canada also tickled your fancy, while Bank of Ireland had the dubious distinction of appearing twice in the top ten thanks to the extra-curricular Internet activities of porn surfing bank chief Michael Soden.

Scientists at a conference in the UK have warned of serious repercussions for e-commerce and cryptography from the possible resolution of a 150-year old mathematical theory.

Bank of America has gone public on outline plans to port its proprietary Unix systems to Linux, ignoring the enduring threat of legal action from open source litigant SCO.

Direct losses from identity theft fraud against victims of online phisihing attacks cost US financial services firms about $1.2 billion in 2003, according to research from consultancy Gartner.

Financial service firms experience the highest number of malicious virus attacks compared to other industries, with almost half (48%) recording at least one severe incident in the six-month period from July to December 2003, according to research by Internet security systems vendor Symantec.

Royal Bank of Canada says it will be working over the weekend to update customer accounts following a computer glitch that has caused payroll delays for thousands of Canadian workers.

The US Department of Justice has announced the arrests of more than 150 individuals in a nationwide law enforcement effort to crack down on card crime, identity theft and phishing scams.

Bank of Ireland and outsourcing partner HP are arguing over who should foot the bill for the departure of disgraced bank chief Michael Soden who was forced out of his job after he was found to be surfing porn and escort agency Web sites on his office PC.

Bank of Ireland chief executive Michael Soden has quit his job after has was found to be using his office computer to surf Internet porn and escort agency Web sites.

The national roll out of chip and PIN technology in the UK is having unexpected consequences for fraud levels, as thousands of new chip cards and PINs issued by banks are being intercepted in the postal system.

Online security services firm MessageLabs is warning of a new phishing scam designed to capture online banking details without requiring customers to click on false links - they just have to open an e-mail.