Our biggest stories of the week are ...
In this month's Vanity Fair, Michael Lewis – he of Liar’s Poker and the Big Short fame – analyses the situation in Ireland after the crisis. The title of the lengthy article is: “When Irish eyes are crying” and the article is more a story than an economic thesis. It’s well worth reading.
Some people had an issue with the number of personal financial management (PFM) solutions that were presented at Finovate last week. But there's a reason why this area is so hot at the moment and that is because banks are ...
And for my next trick ... a bonus
At a leather-decked boardroom table in the backwaters of Whitehall a group of smart City gentlemen meet with some rather scruffy governmental characters to talk about a deal. For the purposes of this story, we’ll call the smarts Eric, Bob ...
We had a good meeting of the financial services club this week to debate SEPA, and whether it matters. It was a repeat of last year’s meeting, with Fred Bar of Vocalink and Gary Wright of the SEPA Consultancy putting the case for SEPA opposed by Paul Smee of the Payments Council and Simon Bailey of Logica.
Globalised trading moves a step closer
The news that the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and the Canadian Stock Exchange TMX was rapidly followed by an announcement that NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Börse are also to merge. Equally, we’ve seen the Singapore Exchange SGX trying to acquire...
Monthly MiFID Monitor, January 2011
We are pleased to provide our tenth month of monitoring the MTF performances in European Equities trading, in partnership with Thomson Reuters Equity Market Share Reporter (EMSR).
The major general news stories of the week include ...
RBS Will Be Biggest Loser From U.K.’s Pay Accord, Analysts Say - Business Week
Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, the U.K.’s biggest government-owned bank, will be the lender worst hit by yesterday’s agreement with the Treasury to curb bonuses and boost lending, analysts said. British taxpayers may end up bearing the cost.
RBS's Stephen Hester and Lloyds' Eric Daniels accept multi-million pound bonuses - The Telegraph
Stephen Hester and Eric Daniels, the chief executives of Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group respectively, have both accepted multi-million pound bonuses for 2010.
Banks in Mongolian coal 'gold rush' - Financial Times
Dealmakers from the top investment banks are jetting into Ulan Bator to fight for a role in an extraordinary deal that is set to turbocharge the Mongolian economy
Danish Banks Face Consolidation After Failure - Business Week
Danish banks may face a wave of consolidation after the Feb. 6 insolvency of Amagerbanken, the country’s fifth-biggest listed lender, left some bondholders in the lurch
Santander Bids $5.8 Billion for Polish Bank - Business Week
Banco Santander SA bid 16.6 billion zloty ($5.8 billion) to acquire 100 percent of Bank Zachodni WBK SA, the Polish lender in which it agreed to buy a majority stake from Allied Irish Banks Plc last year.
FSA fines PR consultant £150,000 for insider trades - The Independent
The financial regulator has fined and banned a corporate financier who became a public relations consultant after he used inside information from a company he advised to make a £100,000 profit.
JPMorgan 'ignored Bernard Madoff red flags' - The Telegraph
One of JP Morgan Chase's London operations ignored a series of red flags over fraudster Bernard Madoff, according to a series of allegations made against the bank in a lawsuit.
British banks: Vickers in a twist - The Economist
In a febrile atmosphere, Britain’s banking commission grapples with the country’s giant banks BRITAIN, home of five of the world’s 30 biggest banks by value, once considered itself a laboratory of financial regulation. But the home of light-touch supervision now fancies itself as the abattoir of too-big-to-fail finance. The rest
Millionaire bankers' message to Britain: We're all right, Jack - The Independent
After umpteen calls for restraint by ministers, weighing the public relations impact, and consulting colleagues and advisers, Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond has made his most difficult decision. The multi-millionaire is set to accept a £9m bonus, one of the largest in the world, and will be followed by the
When Britain said goodbye to 'pounds, shillings, pence'.
If you like the Finanser, check out the books of the blog: the new Complete Banker Series
The Financial Services Club is sponsored by:
For details of sponsorship email us.
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...
