Things we're reading today include ...
UK:
- Sants says FSA will toughen stance (Financial Times)
- Sants tells City to be 'frightened' of the FSA (Times)
- Hector Sants says bankers should be 'very frightened' by the FSA (Telegraph)
- Ban on shorting banks failed miserably, say experts (Financial Times)
- RBS avoided £500 million of tax in global deals (Guardian)
- G20 summit: Britain calls for sweeping powers to curb banks (Times)
Europe:
- Deutsche Bank, Luup Partner for Mobile Payments Services (Payments News)
- Swiss action sparks talk of ‘currency war’ (Financial Times)
- Switzerland eases banking secrecy (BBC)
- Will Euro save Eastern Europe? (BBC)
USA:
- A beleagured bank (of America), and its Hometown, look inward (New York Times)
- The Bank (of America) boss who refuses to stick to the script (Guardian)
- Madoff ‘deeply sorry’ as he pleads guilty to 11 charges (Financial Times)
- I knew it was criminal fraud and I’m sorry, says Bernard Madoff (Times)
World:
- World Bank Head Zoellick adds to calls for more stimulus (Financial Times)
- Hundreds of jobs to be cut at NCR (BBC)
In particular, two stand-outs today are:
eBay Analyst Day: PayPal World Domination (Payments News)
This is an excellent and in-depth analysis by Erin McCune of Payments News. Erin attended eBay's briefing on PayPal this week, and details the latest on PayPal's strategy and results.
And this one from the Huffington Post:
Citigroup Enters Union Fray With Anti-EFCA Call
"Embattled financial giant Citigroup Inc., which has received at least $50 billion in federal bailout funds, hosted a private conference call on Wednesday to build opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act.
"The call, which came just one day after the labor-backed legislation was introduced in Congress, suggests a growing effort on Citi's behalf to spur concerns about the bill, which would make it easier for employees to organize."
Which sparked this blog title: "Citigroup Doesn't Support Workers, Despite Workers Supporting Its Survival".
Watch that space.
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...
