I spent yesterday discussing themes for a major conference in the USA later
this year.
My American friend was a bit down on it all ... but then that’s not
surprising when Ken Thompson, one of the most respected retail bankers in the
USA until this year, had been asked to step down from Wachovia. Rumours are rife
of a takeover bid for Wachovia from Santander or some other non-domestic bank.
Combine this with the step down of Kerry Killinger as Chairman of WaMu, and
Standard & Poor’s downgrading of Merrill Lynch, Lehmans and other big name
bank stocks, and it’s not been a good week for American banking.
Again.
So my colleague was pretty down about the prospects for tradeshows later in
the year.
He made it clear that big, strategic themes, such as innovation and
disruptive strategies, were off the agenda. When banks are fighting for
survival, the last thing they are going to think about is big picture ideas.
They want practical ideas to survive.
I must admit, I can understand this mentality, even though I don't agree with
it.
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...
