The Finanser’s Week: 19th November – 25th November 2012

Our biggest stories of the past week are ... 

Why should we innovate?

I was talking at a conference and a regulator was on the
panel. The panel chair asked him: “should we think about innovation first or
regulation?” and he responded by saying: “It is not a question of regulation or
innovation...

Too fast to innovate,
too slow to change

As mentioned yesterday, the regulator tries to keep up with
the banks who try to keep up with customer, and I said that banks often
innovate too slowly. There are many examples of this, but the one that I
come...

Europe trades at just €7,900 per trade today (down from
€19,000 in 2008)

I bet you thought I was talking about Europe's sovereign
debt issue but no, I'm talking about the average trade size for equities
trading across Europe having just received some fascinating data from the
Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE)....

The last typewriter ... what next?

I just saw a note today that the Science Museum has acquired
the very last typewriter produced by the Brother factory: “The factory’s 200
employees witnessed the final model of the Brother CM-1000 being packed into
its box to a...

Next generation authentication: DNA?

I’ve blogged often about the issues of identity, passwords,
lack of security and the whole gamut of how mobile internet combined with
social media changes everything. Now it’s hit the mainstream media when British
Airways magazine has its main front...

The major general news stories of the past week include ... 

Viewpoint:
The end of High Street banking as we know it - BBC
The traditional bank is under attack from forward-thinking firms

UBS
faces record fine following Kweku Adoboli fraud - The Telegraph
UBS is braced for a record multi-million pound fine for failures in its systems
and controls that allowed former employee Kweku Adoboli to conduct Britain's
biggest bank fraud.

Lack
of any strong political will has turned banking reform into a farce - The
Telegraph
What went on in Westminster yesterday summed up neatly the mess we're in when
it comes to our banks.

Kweku
Adoboli was the author of his own downfall - The Telegraph
Apologetic email led to uncovering of huge fraud that cost his bank £1.4bn and
sent him to jail for seven years.

US
banks warn on money transfer rule - Financial Times
Money transferrers say ‘harsh’ remittance reforms have created the biggest
compliance challenge ever faced by the industry, and want a rethink

Mervyn
Davies becomes the latest former Labour minister to land a top City job
- The Independent
Mervyn Davies has become the third former minister from Gordon Brown’s
government to land a top City job in a matter of days, following fellow peers
Peter Mandelson and Paul Myners.

Watchdog
slams 'giant failure' that led to banking crisis - The Independent
Britain's chief financial watchdog last night accused the financial
establishment of a "giant intellectual failure" in the run-up to the
financial crisis and called for tough new sanctions on the directors of banks
that fail.

The
Monday interview: Santander UK chief Ana Botin - The Telegraph
Having run a dotcom start-up, Santander UK chief Ana Botin knows just how tough
life can be for entrepreneurs .

Heat
turned up on 'Big Four' accountants - The Independent
Critics of the Big Four accountants believe that a Competition Commission
inquiry into the audit market has found the smoking gun that proves that the
market is "a closed shop".

Lord
Mandelson wins role as the new 'ethical' banker - The Telegraph
Lord Mandelson, the former Labour Cabinet minister, becomes the chairman of an
investment bank.

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