Our biggest stories of the week are ...
Volcker Rule details are leaked
The Volcker Rule, named after former head of the Federal Reserve Paul Volcker who advised on the investment banking reforms of the Dodd-Frank legislation, has been rumoured for ages and was originally a proposal to ban proprietary trading completely.
In case you missed it, Google Wallet now available
I got an email last week saying that Google Wallet had launched. Strange ... I thought it launched last May, but no this is not the launch. This is take-off.
NAB’s latest ad campaign – getting nasty?
Originally NAB came up with a brilliant campaign to differentiate themselves from the other mainstream banks in Australia with a campaign called “The Breakup”. I really liked it, but they haven’t really followed it through as their next campaign was good, but completely unrelated to The Breakup.
Proof that the branch (of old) is dead
The Finanser’s mate Brett King – Chris Skinner “taught me everything I know” - was in a webinar yesterday, talking about the future of banking with some good stats to back up ideas. A key one is that the average number of in-branch transactions has declined by a quarter in the last four years ...
American Excess rather than Express
So I can’t find my American Express Card. Looked everywhere and it’s lost. Darnit. I Google “AMEX lost corporate card”, and find an American telephone number. Harumph. So I Google “AMEX lost corporate card UK”, and find the UK 01273...
Just a brick in the Wall ... Street
Obviously, many of you will be aware of the Occupy Wall Street protest by now. If you’re not, it may be that you were at #SIBOS when it all started, so here’s the low down. My friend who lives on...
Don't punish the rich with taxation ... incentivise them
It’s a Sunday morning and I’m asked to contribute to a debate on the BBC’s Sunday Morning Live (using awful Skype webcam) about whether the rich should feel a moral obligation to pay more tax.* My take on this is...
The major general news stories of the week include ...
Apple 'visionary' Steve Jobs dies - BBC
Technology pioneer and co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, dies at the age of 56 with President Obama saying "the world has lost a visionary".
UBS failed to act on rogue trading evidence before losing £1.5bn - The Telegraph
UBS has admitted it detected evidence of unauthorised trading but did nothing to investigate it before last month's revelation it had lost $2.3bn (£1.5bn) as a result of a rogue trader.
French bank fears rejected by Morgan Stanley - The Independent
Executives at at Morgan Stanley were last night cheering thesuccess of their efforts to restore confidence in the investment bank, after a bear raid on the company's share price and bond insurance that had threatened to spark anall-out panic.
UK wins major victory to stop EU regulation of financial services - The Telegraph
Britain has won a major victory in a battle to stop heavy-handed EU regulation of financial services but faces a longer struggle to stop German and eurozone discrimination against the City of London.
Q&A with JPMorgan's technology team - Financial Times
How the investment bank handled duplicative technology
'Mood darkens' in finance sector - BBC
Financial services firms are expected to cut jobs in the next three months after recent volatility on the stock markets, a report says.
European politicians plot to block UK veto on 'Tobin tax' - The Telegraph
A group of European politicians is plotting to impose the financial transaction tax (FTT) in a way that Britain would be powerless to veto, a British MEP has warned.
Lloyds could be forced to hang on to Verde until the markets improve - The Telegraph
When Antonio Horta-Osorio proclaimed in the Spring that he hoped to identify a final solution for the 632 branches he is being forced to sell by European regulators by the end of the year, the Lloyds Banking Group chief executive could not have predicted what was about to happen.
HSBC retail bank should go to Paris, says Myners - The Telegraph
Lord Myners, the former City minister, has publicly suggested HSBC should move its UK retail banking operations to France in a bid to avoid the potential repercussions of the Independent Commission on Banking's final ring-fence recommendations.
PayPal On Barriers To Google Wallet: Mass Adoption Of NFC Is Years Away - Techcrunch
As you may have read, Google officially launched its mobile payments platform Google Wallet recently, which allows you to pay for products in the real world by tapping your NFC-enabled Android phone against a compatible card reader. Shortly following the initial announcement of the technology in May, payments giant PayPal
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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...
