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I was talking to a group of Treasury folks and the guy before me gave a pitch about the CFO of the future.  The pitch focused upon how the CFO would be managing risk, incorporating different technologies, managing M&A, dealing with globalisation and so on and so forth.  I couldn’t …

You may be aware that I am a Non-Executive Director of 11:FS. If not, have you not been awake for the past year, and the success the guys are having? Not only have they won some of the biggest digital bank transformation projects in Europe – beating the likes of …

There are lots of reports of robots taking jobs from humans, and our fear for the future world of no work.  One paper from researchers at Oxford University predicts that 47% of American jobs are at “high risk” of computerisation over the next two decades.  Another research report issued in 2015 …

The Turing test, developed by Alan Turing in 1950, is a test of a machine’s ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human. Although there had been numerous claims that Eugene Goostman passed the Turing test, that simply is not true. Let us just say that he cheated the test in a …

There’s an old joke about the guy who’s lost driving in the countryside who stops to ask a pedestrian how to get to the city.  The pedestrian replies: “oh, if you want to get there, I wouldn’t start from here”, and this is exactly how banks feel today.  They want …

I was interviewed by UBS’s wealth management team a month ago, when the bitcoin bubble was in full bloom. The price had exploded, tripling in a month. Now that it has burst, the interview seems quite prescient so, here it is … UBS interview with Chris Skinner Cryptocurrencies – digital …

Things we’re reading today include … Britons face lifetime of debt as Bank of England warns over 35 year mortgages Former Shawbrook finance chief Wood to aid Co-op Bank rescue plan ECB eyes review of Deutsche Bank shareholders: source Westerman in the frame to be next chief executive at HSBC …

I was reflecting on a question posed to me recently by a Turkish banker.  He asked me: “why is it that the Western banks are always talking about legacy?”  I knew exactly what he was getting at, as the banks I deal with in USA, UK, France, Germany and other …

Things we’re reading today include … Exclusive: Ant Financial refiles for U.S. approval of MoneyGram deal – sources Lloyds Bank to abolish charges for unplanned overdrafts FCA: More taking out drawdown pensions without advice The end of cash? Cards now account for more than half of retail purchases, BRC finds …

Last week was Money 2020 Europe week.  This year a gathering of 6,000 odd people – and I mean ODD – assembled in Copenhagen to talk all things FinTech and stuff.  That’s 50 percent up on last year’s first outing and, due to the numbers and a few brown envelopes …

I spend a lot of time talking with my friends in Turkey, particularly since the big change in climate after the protests last year.  Nevertheless, from a financial markets point of view, it’s a fascinating place.  One of the first to be contactless and, more recently, one of the first …

I’ve written a column for The Banker magazine for the last 15 years and, during that time, have collected their special July edition each year.  Every July The Banker publishes their analysis of the Top 1000 banks in the world.  In the 1990s, the top 10 were mainly Japanese; in the 2000s, …

Things we’re reading today include … 20 years on FCA links up with US regulators in car loans probe UK remains Europe’s top destination for foreign investment in financial services Haldane: UK pay has flatlined Bitcoin accepted at New York pre-school The complicated failure of two Italian lenders Kenya launches …

Things we’re reading today include … House Democrats challenge Deutsche Bank over review of Trump’s accounts Luxembourg’s politicians pin economic hopes on fintech drive U.S. regulators, lawmakers support Volcker rule revamp at hearing China’s ICBC says checks of loans by big acquirers are routine Biggest U.S. banks clear first hurdle …

Twenty years ago, I was working on re-engineering projects.  Most of the time I was getting exasperated because the banks wouldn’t take on the big projects, like the mortgage process, as it went across too many divisions.  That’s big risk in their view, as it meant disturbing the structure of …