Our biggest stories of the past week are ...
This week, the Finanser put together a three-part series
about the world of change we live in.
Part One: Stop
talking about mobile, it's not important
My latest presentation is apparently a polemic. That’s what
my colleague said yesterday, when I said that my new presentation has three
themes: Mobile is irrelevant; Money is meaningless; and Capitalism is dead. I
wondered what she meant by polemic,...
Part Two: Money is
meaningless, it’s the data that is important
I’ve blogged and presented about this subject many times
before, so rather than repeating all that, here’s a summation with a new twist.
Money is meaningless because we no longer deal in money. When we use the word
money, most...
Part Three: Capitalism
is dead, long live capitalism
Following on from my previous two polemics: Stop talking
about mobile, it's not important; and Money is meaningless I’m now moving on to
the final contentious point which is that capitalism is dead. We all knew that
capitalism died in...
Change management
means change management
Walking around Davos, we stumble across a small enclave of
bank chiefs sharing breakfast. In this case, Dimon, Blankfein, Jenkins and
Gulliver, the CEOs of JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Barclays and HSBC respectively.
The conversation takes an interesting turn. Jenkins: “I...
From bye-bye banks to
buy-buy banks
In 2008, we all thought banks were bye, bye, bye. Five years
later, everyone is saying buy, buy, buy. Or Warren Buffet is anyway. In an
interview with Bloomberg last week, Buffett said: “The banks will not get this
country...
FinovateEurope 2013 is only 4 weeks away and readers of the Finanser can get a 10% discount on the ticket price by entering 'FSClub2013' as your discount code when registering.
The major general news stories of the past week include ...
President
of Iceland attacks Gordon Brown - The Telegraph
Former prime minister Gordon Brown has been severely criticised by the
President of Iceland over the country's treatment during the financial crisis.
Lloyds
Bank 'to axe 940 jobs and move 200 posts to India' - The Independent
Lloyds Bank is to axe more than 940 jobs, bringing job loss announcements to
1,300 in the past few days, according to unions.
Barclays
to move hundreds of back-office jobs to India - The Independent
Barclays is planning to offshore hundreds of roles at its troubled investment banking
unit to India in a bid to cut costs, The Independent has learnt.
European
transactions tax agreed - BBC
EU finance ministers give the green light for 11 eurozone members, including France
and Germany, to prepare a new tax on financial transactions.
Graduates
shun banking jobs - The Telegraph
The reputation of Britain's banks has been so tarnished by the economic crisis
and recent scandals that the industry is struggling to hire talented staff,
according to a report by the CBI and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Lloyds
apologises after Faster Payments System problems - The Telegraph
Lloyds Banking Group has apologised after thousands of customers were unable to
use the Faster Payments system.
RBS
speeds up investment arm split - The Telegraph
Royal Bank of Scotland is speeding up plans to split its investment bank as
part of a shake-up that is expected to see the exit of star investment banker
John Hourican.
Santander
mulls £2bn Clydesdale and Yorkshire bid - The Telegraph
Santander is reportedly mulling a £2bn bid for Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks
in another attempt to beef up its presence on the UK high street.
Goldman
bankers get rich betting on food prices as millions starve - The
Independent
Goldman Sachs made more than a quarter of a billion pounds last year by
speculating on food staples, reigniting the controversy over banks profiting
from the global food crisis.
Barclays
Wealth division 'out of control', says secret report - The Telegraph
Barclays has moved swiftly to part company with a senior executive after
investigators alleged that he shredded a highly critical analysis of the
maverick culture and bullying at the bank's one-time flagship business.
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Chris M Skinner
Chris Skinner is best known as an independent commentator on the financial markets through his blog, TheFinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank, and Chair of the European networking forum the Financial Services Club. He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal's Financial News. To learn more click here...
