Our biggest stories of the week are ...
We are pleased to provide our eighth month of monitoring the MTF performances in European Equities trading, in partnership with Thomson Reuters Equity Market Share Reporter (EMSR).
The US mortgage crisis infographic
I got a nice email from mortgage rates today saying that they had "created an infographic which looks into the works of the banks and their dealings with Collateralized Debt Obligations." Here it is.
Argh - Eric Cantona calls for a revolution!!!
Eric Cantona, the charismatic and gifted French footballer, has ignited the fire to bring down the banking system on 7th December 2010.
What is High Frequency Trading?
A children's guide to High Frequency Trading, co-location and proximity hosting
There’s a whole load of things we’re grappling with today, and not many people seem to know how to grapple with them well. In particular, there’s a challenge regarding definitions. Defining what is “systemically important” versus what is not. Defining what is “commercial trade” versus speculative. Defining appropriate levels of capital versus required levels of capital. Defining what trust means and how to regain it ... and more.
Understanding SEPA's long and winding road
At the Euro Finance conference in Frankfurt this week was a stream all about transaction banking which yours truly attended. Much of the discussion was about SEPA anbd why it's not working, with the end-date being a focal point. Even here, there is strong disagreement with the ECB stating one set of dates and the banks another.
I was thinking a lot about the recent news that the FSA has ordered all mobile telephone calls to be monitored for any trader or investment banker using a corporate mobile telephone. It doesn’t seem like such a great idea though, as traders and bankers will just switch to personal mobiles or those of their partners.
I received an email with this great story which you may have seen but, just in case, is worth sharing here. How do taxes work? Suppose that once a week, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to £100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this ...
The major general news stories of the week include ...
Book Review: The Complete Banker Series - Huffington Post
I've just read through most of Chris Skinner's new series The Complete Banker, where even the rhyming slang title tells you from the get go of the unique style that Chris brings to his latest 5-book series.
European Central Bank tightens screw on Ireland, Portugal and Spain - The Telegraph
Europe will raise interest rates and withdraw lending support for banks despite the eurozone debt crisis, even if this risks pushing Ireland, Portugal and Spain into deeper trouble.
British banks have £140 billion exposure to Ireland's economic crisis - The Telegraph
RBS, the largely-nationalised bank, is thought to have £50 billion of outstanding loans, as George Osborne pledges £7bn help.
HSBC plans to hike base salaries for investment bankers - The Independent
HSBC, europe's largest bank, is raising the basic pay of many senior investment bankers by as much as double.
Ghost estates and broken lives: the human cost of the Irish crash - The Independent
They stand empty across Ireland: 300,000 unoccupied homes, a silent reproach to those who built them believing that the country's economic boom would never end. As Europe's finance ministers laboured in vain to reach an agreement on how to ease Ireland's economic misery last night, the so-called ghost estates were ...
UK's anger at bonuses 'not shared overseas' - The Telegraph
Anger in Britain at the size of the bonuses paid to bankers is not widely shared abroad, according to the UK banking industry's main trade body.
Santander denies pushing Pontin's into administration - The Telegraph
Pontin's bank, Santander, has dismissed claims by the collapsed holiday park's former owner that it prematurely pulled the plug and pushed the business into administration.
Europe stumbles blindly towards its 1931 moment - The Telegraph
It is the ECB that should be printing money on a mass scale to purchase government debt, not the US Federal Reserve.
Lloyd's New Chief Faces a Familiar Rival - Business Week
As CEO, António Horta-Osório will face off against Ana Patricia Botín, a Santander ex-colleague being groomed for the top spot there
Banks in talks over bonuses cut - BBC
Britain's biggest banks are in talks about collectively reducing the total amount of money they will pay staff in the upcoming bonus season.
If you like the Finanser, check out the books of the blog: the new Complete Banker Series
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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...
