Our biggest stories of the week are ...
The future of the City of London
The City of London has only been attractive for finance due to its openness, ease of doing business, skills base and low tax. As the government attacks all of these areas and makes it less attractive, will international banks leave? And will Asian and other newer banks still want to be based here?
Ok, it’s my final work day before jetting off for the annual jamboree that is SIBOS. This year’s SIBOS has three themes: regulation, recovery and rebuilding trust. So, let’s explore these briefly and, just in case you are not going to SIBOS, you might learn something too as these are my top tips for all large tradeshows.
Can we create ways of investing for the long-term?
Another big question for the session I’m running at SIBOS, focused upon Long Finance, is whether there is any way to create a system that allows all of us to confidently invest for the long-term? Creating a system for long-term investing - 1,000 years plus - is a tough call as everything in the commercial system today is geared to the short-term. How could we ever build a system that ignored interest and profit, and allowed us to invest in things that give returns in 100 years or 1,000 or 10,000? Well it has been done before.
Innovation has nothing to with technology
It intrigues me how often we have a conversation about innovation, and everyone starts talking about new technology. Apart from the fact that innovation is no longer the hot topic it was in banking - the credit crisis saw to that - innovation has nothing to do with technology. Innovation is to do with people.
The similarity between OTC derivatives and cheese
I recently chaired a conference focused upon money markets and the bit of the day that really caught my attention was when Heather Pilley from the OTC Derivatives and Post-Trade Policy Division of the FSA, presented the plans for new regulations in this area.
How will banking be different in 100 years?
This is the last of the six big questions we are tackling next week at SIBOS and the hardest. How can anyone know what banking might be like in 2110. Well, there's a few ways ...
The major general news stories of the week include ...
Insider trader loses 'poverty' appeal against £66,000 fine - The Independent
A share trader who lost thousands of pounds gambling on stocks and derivatives yesterday had his plea for a reduced Financial Services Authority fine for "financial hardship" thrown out.
Swiss bank chief 'bullish' about City's future - The Telegraph
The head of one of Switzerland's oldest private banks has dismissed fears about the City of London's future amid continued talk of a potential exodus of bankers overseas.
A Look at PayPal's 3Q2010 Financial Results - Payments News
PayPal's parent eBay announced financial results for the third quarter 2010 today. eBay's Payments segment (including PayPal and BillMeLater) revenue was $817.0 million for the quarter, an increase of 22% year over year. Net total payment volume (TPV) for the quarter was $22.4 billion, an increase of 26% year over
Confirmed by the European Central Bank’s recent announcement of 4% growth in the EU, global payments volumes continued to grow in 2009, despite economic pressure from the financial crisis according to findings from the World Payments Report 2010, announced recently by Capgemini, RBS and EFMA.
FIS Acquires of Global Consulting Firm Capco - Payments News
FIS has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Capco, a global financial services business and technology consultancy. “Combining Capco’s collaborative consulting services with FIS’ industry leading core banking and payments solution suite will enable both organizations to better leverage our individual strengths while providing our respective
Bank of America makes $7.3bn loss - BBC
A one-off charge leaves Bank of America - the US's biggest bank - with a hefty loss for the third quarter of the year.
Reuters rocked by scandal over staff's undisclosed shareholdings - The Independent
One of the most prominent financial commentators at Reuters resigned yesterday after admitting that he had owned and dealt in shares while writing about them for the media company's Reuters Breakingviews operation.
Taxes and regulation 'exile talent from City' - The Independent
The City of London is finding it harder to attract top financial-services talent because of higher taxes and stiffer regulation, according to Peter Sands, the chief executive of Standard Chartered.
Identity fraud now costs £1.9bn - BBC
Fraudsters obtain more than £1,000 from every identity they steal, official figures suggest.
PayPal X Developer Challenge: Top 10 Finalists - PayPal Blog
PayPal has announced the top 10 finalist in their PayPal X Developer Challenge - BetmeBig, iConsessionStand, Kabbage, Kachingle, LendFriend, OrderMapper, RFinity, SellAround. ShareABill, and SmartMarket. Short descriptions of each were included on the PayPal blog. The grand prize winner will be announced at the PayPal Developers Conference on Oct 26-27.
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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...
