Saxo Bank CEO Says Second Life is Good for Communications and Fun

Although it still is too early to tell how companies ultimately will leverage Second Life to gain strategic business advantage, the financial services industry continues to expand in the virtual world as it grows more and more popular.

Associated Feature:Wall Street Firms Increasingly Adopt Web 2.0

Although it still is too early to tell how companies ultimately will leverage Second Life to gain strategic business advantage, the financial services industry continues to expand in the virtual world as it grows more and more popular. Singapore-based financial firm First Meta recently launched Second Life's first credit card, and other new residents include Germany's Wirecard Bank and Dutch banking groups ING and ABN Amro.

Another Second Life resident is Saxo, a Copenhagen-based bank that offers online trading of foreign exchange, stocks, stocks on margin (CFDs), futures and fixed-income products. WS&T Associate Editor Melanie Rodier recently spoke with Saxo co-CEO Lars Christensen about the institution's decision to move into Second Life last spring.

WS&T: Why did Saxo decide to build a presence in Second Life?

Christensen: We wanted to be there as a first mover while it's still being defined. And whether it's Second Life or another platform, we want to have fun doing it. We take the view that it may or may not develop into an important way of distributing information on the Internet.

WS&T: How are you using the virtual world?

Christensen: People from different offices around the world can meet each other there in a virtual way. We thought the idea of using Second Life as a social network was fun because it's an important part of building our company culture across different offices around the world.

We also have a basement in Second Life where employees can play a game of pool. ... And we're building new [real-world] headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark, and we designed it in Second Life.

WS&T: How are your clients using Second Life?

Christensen: We created an interface on Second Life to communicate with people -- they can win [Second Life currency] Linden dollars, try FX trading. We provide a Linden dollar converter that allows people to check values in their own currencies. They can convert their Linden dollars back to Yen. We provide some fun. We have some advisers who will take questions and give presentations, and we've done seminars.

WS&T: Are you going to set up a foreign exchange market in Second Life?

Christensen: We've looked at it quite closely. We've discussed it. But we didn't make huge progress. The lack of a central bank and some kind of credible angle makes it difficult to get in. And there's no guarantee where the [Linden] currency might be tomorrow. There's a lack of infrastructure. But I think there should be a central bank. We've suggested it.

Melanie Rodier has worked as a print and broadcast journalist for over 10 years, covering business and finance, general news, and film trade news. Prior to joining Wall Street & Technology in April 2007, Melanie lived in Paris, where she worked for the International Herald ... View Full Bio