Chris Skinner's blog Shaping the future of finance

A big area of debate in banking that has been around since the 1990s is how to make banks more accountable for sustainability. I talk about this a lot these days as 71% of all Green House Gas (GHGs) emissions emitted on planet earth since …

Things we’re reading today include …. UBS posts surprise second quarter profit boost What’s the best way to stay awake in meetings? Neil Woodford’s listed fund invests £10m in Atom Bank Equifax to pay up to $700m to settle data breach Will America go from …

One of the discussions at the UN meetings was around SIDS, the Small Island Developing States. I didn’t know much about SIDS but, when investigating further, discovered I did. They range from islands like Belize and Puerto Rico to Mauritius and Barbados to Bahrain and …

The main blog headlines are … The UN’s SDG’s, FinTech and Banking Due to various connections, I was asked to deliver the opening keynote speech at the United Nations High Level Political Forum last week (some coverage here). It was one of those rare occasions …

Things we’re reading today include … Bank of America CEO on the importance of digital banking Australia’s NAB turns to RBS turnaround man Ross McEwan as CEO The pound’s slide is about more than Brexit Goldman Sachs’ equities-backed earnings results may face pressure Revolut’s growing …

A regular question that comes up is: When will the Fintech bubble burst? My claim is that it won’t under my watch, as this is as big a restructuring of banking and finance as the internet has been for commerce and trade. The latter change …

Whilst at the United Nations they had me doing various activities, one of which was a panel for UNTV. The panel comprised Elliot Harris, UN Chief Economist; Matthew Blake, Head of Future of Financial and Monetary Systems, World Economic Forum; and was moderated by Gillian …

Things we’re reading today include … German online bank N26 valued at $3.5bn after investment Bitcoin tumbles as U.S. senators grill Facebook on crypto plans City watchdog admits investment rules too complex for staff Pound could fall to parity with dollar on hard Brexit concerns …

A key part of UN’s agenda for sustainability is the taskforce for digital finance. Officially launched in November 2018, around the same time as the UN’s Principles for Responsible Banking, the taskforce is specifically tasked by the Economic and Security Council (ECOSEC) to look at …

Things we’re reading today include … Visa invests in Indonesian ride-hailing firm Go-Jek Facebook vows Libra currency will wait for approval as U.S. airs worries ‘Breathtaking arrogance’: senators grill Facebook in combative hearing over Libra currency Christine Lagarde resigns as head of IMF Apra to …

I thought I would share my speech at last week’s UN meeting and the short version is summarised nicely by the UN’s press page: Chris Skinner, an author and commentator from the United Kingdom, discussed the promise of “fintech” — which integrates finance and technology …

Things we’re reading today include … Christine Lagarde will have to confront Berlin if she’s to save the euro | Yanis Varoufakis Facebook’s Libra could be misused, says treasury chief Mnuchin New £50 note design sees Alan Turing become first LGBT person on a UK …

Due to various connections, I was asked to deliver the opening keynote speech at the United Nations High Level Political Forum last week (some coverage here). It was one of those rare occasions where I got nervous, looking out at the faces of dignitaries from …

Things we’re reading today include … French financial regulator wants more flexible market rules U.S. proposes barring big tech companies from offering financial services, digital currencies City regulator fines balloon to £320m in six months Will Mark Carney and George Osborne vie for the top …

The main blog headlines are … Two weeks to pay someone? Luxury! Being raised on Monty Python, an old sketch popped into my head (The Four Yorkshire Men) and led to a thought. A grandfather and grandson are at the dinner table … Grandfather: Ah, when …

A lot of discussion at the United Nations, where I’ve been all week (blogging about that next week), has raised the question of Libra, the Facebook digital currency. I’m avoiding calling it a cryptocurrency, as it’s more a stablecoin that is focused upon transactions, which …

A few years ago, I posted a guest article from Philippe Gelis, co-founder and CEO of FX firm Kantox, on Why FinTech Banks will rule the world. It was very popular and made my top ten posts of 2015, and Philippe has been kind enough …

Things we’re reading today include … Digital banks seek to turn popularity into profits At a Grim Moment for Banking Jobs, Citigroup Says It’s Hiring HSBC urged to apologise after boss praised Chinese regime Kids empty their parents’ bank account trying to buy Lionel Messi …

I often talk about the world changing thanks to young people who can code. My examples include John and Patrick Collison, Stripe, who were 19 and 21 when they started their business; Andrew Kortina and Iqram Magdon-Ismail, who were in their mid-20’s when they created …

Things we’re reading today include … What’s the point of a bank if it won’t accept cash? Piper Jaffray buys rival investment bank Sandler O’Neill for $485m Critics round on Deutsche Bank for golden parachutes Deutsche Bank bosses fitted for £1,200 suits as thousands lose …

The next day, the grandson came to visit his grandfather again, and immediately returned to the conversation of yesterday. Grandson: Granddad, you know you were talking about how money and banking used to be. Well, I think it’s a lot better today. Granddad: How so, …

Things we’re reading today include … Big ax falls as Deutsche Bank to lay off 18,000 in $8.3 billion ‘reinvention’ What went wrong at Deutsche Bank? Deutsche Bank shares rise as 18,000 global job cuts begin One-fifth of sole traders close down within a year …