Our biggest stories of the week are ...
The SEPA end-date is not the end
I had a fun day in Brussels this week. Well, it was fun for me anyway, although I’m not so sure about the conference folks attending as we were discussing the PSD and SEPA ... again ... as usual. After seven years of gestation, full SEPA was born last year but, eighteen months later, the whole thing appears to be coagulating.
Some folks are aware that I co-founded the website Shaping Tomorrow and have a passion for all things in the future. So I was fascinated to see the Ladies Home Journal of December 1900 article, forecasting the next hundred years ...
Apparently, Ben Bernanke lost his iPhone recently. The guy who found it took a screenshot of an exchange between Bernanke and Tim Geithner, with the Fed demanding the Government's overdrawn balance be cleared.
Monthly MiFID Monitor, November 2010
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).
Banks show commitment to Facebook
I just received a copy of a new Aite Group report, which surveyed 166 financial services executives in the United States and Europe during August through October 2010. Key headlines include: by 2012, 40% of financial firms expect to invest between 2% and 10% of their overall marketing budget on social media ...
The rumblings of the wikileaks revolution continue, as reports of Visa, MasterCard and PayPal have outages around the world are hitting the wire all day today. For those who haven't caught the whole story, here's a good summary of the events so far ...
MasterCard, Visa, PayPal and Amazon tried to close down wikileaks this week, by freezing their accounts due to the leakage of cables from American embassies. Now wikileaks supporters have fought back, bringing MasterCard's website to its knees, and likely to disrupt Visa, PayPal and Amazon. It's "an actual war between the powers that be on one side, and the internet on the other."
When will the taxpayer get their money back?
I’m regularly asked the question as to when the government will get rid of their stake in Lloyds and RBS, return them to the private sector, give a profit to the taxpayer and butt out of banking. I always give the same answer: “when the government needs votes”.
Barclays Capital is not just any old investment bank
I love the understatement in some magazines when they refer to companies. For example, they might say: “according to a report today from Microsoft, a software company”; or, “in the news today the BBC, a broadcasting company”. The Economist pulled my chain with their writing about this chart, saying: “According to Barclays Capital, an investment bank.” Barclays Capital is not just any old investment bank. It’s Bob Diamond’s bank.
The major general news stories of the week include ...
The only body that seems keen to keep the RBS report secret is the FSA itself - The Telegraph
Life just isn't getting any easier for beleaguered FSA chairman Lord Adair Turner and chief executive Hector Sants.
RBS was a disaster on a massive scale - so was the FSA's 'report' - The Telegraph
Lord Turner's investigation is better late than never, but did it achieve anything?
Is there an alternative to a cheque? - BBC
The Payments Council announced plans last year to phase out cheques - but has an alternative idea been put forward?
Prince William makes record €17bn foreign currency trade - The Telegraph
Prince William broke the record for the largest foreign currency trade when he joined his father for the ICAP charity day.
Tesco banking 'set to grow' - BBC
Tesco's finance director Laurie McIlwee explains how well the company is performing.
Tesco Bank chief Benny Higgins accuses UK's biggest lenders - The Telegraph
The head of Tesco Bank told the Treasury Select Committee that the largest lenders are blocking new entrants from entering Britain's retail banking market by operating a 'cartel' on consumer credit data.
Brown warns of euro 'high noon' - BBC
Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown tells the BBC he fears the euro will face a moment of reckoning in the New Year.
Cloud computing 'could boost EU' - BBC
Widespread adoption of cloud computing could give the top five EU economies a 763bn-euro boost, a report says.
HSBC hit with $9bn lawsuit over Madoff - The Telegraph
HSBC has been sued for $9bn by the man seeking to recover money for Bernard Madoff's victims, becoming the third major bank in as many weeks to be targeted.
Banks braced as King Eric's day of reckoning arrives - The Independent
The world's banks will collapse tomorrow when millions of people withdraw their money simultaneously to "destroy" the system. Or maybe not.
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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...
