Thepilotprojectalsoexamines the bestway to financestart-upcostsandongoingmaintenance, with initial results indicating that the system canpay for itself within two to three years.
In investor jargon, it therefore has huge operating leverage: the initial start-up costs for hardware and software were high, but since break-even each new client's revenues have been almost pure profit.
There are economic reasons why BABs underwriting fees may have started out high and then come down: underwriters took on risk with a new product and had to bear start-up costs and devote resources to educate investors for their initial offerings.