Things we're reading today include ...
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Today's must read
Lord Myners attacks bankers’ greed and finds God (Times)
“Lord Myners, the minister appointed to clean up the City, is so disenchanted
by bankers’ greed and self-aggrandisement that he is planning to become a
theology student
... he was worried he
may have ’neglected’ the moral purpose of life and was ’increasingly
exercised and concerned with the fact that we have compromised our lives ... this is very evident in the financial community – that money has become
everything. People have lost their sense of purpose. The absence of clear
moral purpose is something that is very troubling.’ ”
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Bank bonuses
Bonus boom time returns to Wall Street (Independent)
Leave the bankers alone to their bonuses (Times)
Make bankers and bureaucrats pay for their mistakes (Telegraph)
Crackdown on City pay ignites fears of exodus by star bankers (Times)
Ex-Lehman traders to get huge bonuses (Guardian)
RBS lost 700 top traders (Times)
US Banks
US banks unleash wave of optimism (Financial Times)
Behind the profits lies trouble for 2 bank giants (St. Louis Post Dispatch)
Return of the banks' golden age is an illusion (Financial Times)
UK Banks
Tories say break up the big banks (Times)
Lloyds to stun City on profit (Times)
Roger Jenkins to quit Barclays and set up own venture (Times)
UK Economy
Ernst and Young report says hopes of recovery in UK are unrealistic (Telegraph)
UK economy set for biggest fall since 1945 (Independent)
City firms plot to avoid 50pc tax (Telegraph)
Europe and Asia
Top City financiers step up lobby against new laws from Brussels (Independent)
Hester courts Brussels in bid to avoid fire sale (Telegraph)
Swiss call for tax watchdog (Guardian)
China's eastern promise belies its volatility (Telegraph)
General
Bring back usury law to control interest rates, campaign urges (Guardian)
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Quote of the Day
"Don't worry about your credit cards and driver's license - I know I can't use them ... after tonight, at least." Note left by burglar to victim
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And this will just cheer you up.
A video of a dog barking at himself, barking at himself (the laptop is playing a YouTube clip of him barking at himself) ...
I wondered what happened to Eddie from Frasier, and now I know.
Hat-tip to the Ridiculant
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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...