Our biggest stories of the week are ...
I’ve been loathe to talk too much lately about the Eurozone as it’s just too darned depressing. What with Greece slipping and sliding away, Italy bunga’d out and now France being challenged, it’s just a crazy, crazy moment in history....
I’m no expert on such matters, but a friend of mine was talking about different tools for different times and how they use certain technologies for different services. In particular their interests are data visualisation techniques and how these can...
Seeing the wood for the tree branches (again)
We had a discussion last night about branchless banking, with two retail bank leaders telling me I was wrong about the idea. The argument was not actually about the concept of branchless banking, but less branch banking. Even so, these...
Talking about the St Paul’s protesters yesterday, you do wonder if they maybe have a good point or two to make. Like their American counterparts, I’m sure they do but unfortunately it’s all a bit loose and airy-fairy, with a...
Jim O'Neill on the BRICs - the next decade
Just tweeted to our friends in the #OccupyLSE group – that’s Occupy the London Stock Exchange (LSE) for those who are not aware of the protest outside the LSE at St Paul’s – that I attended a meeting at the...
The major general news stories of the week include ...
Britain prepares for eurozone 'armageddon' - The Independent
Deep in the Treasury’s recently-refurbished offices, the Government’s finest economic brains are having to think the unthinkable.
UK banks face huge losses on Italian debt - The Telegraph
British banks could be among the hardest hit by the Eurozone financial crisis because they are exposed to tens of billions of pounds of Italian debt.
David Cameron set to veto 'unacceptable' RBS bonuses - The Telegraph
David Cameron has indicated he will block "unacceptable" bonuses that Royal Bank of Scotland is set to pay bankers this Christmas.
Crunching the numbers on HSBC job losses - The Telegraph
Bi-monthly satirical magazine Private Eye runs a regular feature titled 'Number Crunching' where it contrasts a set of figures to illustrate a bigger point.
Nordic Banks Beat European Rivals - Business Week
Nordic banks, which steered clear of the subprime meltdown and the worst of Europe’s debt crisis, are proving that it pays to keep business local as they outperform bigger rivals and increase their corporate lending.
Is culture important in banking? - The Telegraph
Does it really matter if anyone at a bank actually likes the people at the top running the business? Should we care if senior executives hold a barely disguised contempt for those that are charged with determining the strategy they are then required to implement?
Tobin Tax is a tax on pensioners that will cost 1m jobs, says Chancellor George Osborne - The Telegraph
George Osborne has condemned plans for a European Union levy on financial transactions as a 'big tax on pensioners' that will lead to 995,000 job losses and not cost bankers a penny.
I've seen the future for Royal Bank of Scotland and it's called NatWest - The Telegraph
A month ago I asked: "Will someone please explain the point of the Royal Bank of Scotland?"
EU: we'll make UK cut bank bonuses - The Independent
The European Commission is considering tough new proposals to curb the pay and bonuses that banks can hand out to staff working across the European Union.
British banks facing claims risk in Saudi fraud case - The Telegraph
HSBC and Standard Chartered could be dragged into a multi-billion dollar dispute between warring Saudi factions after the banks were forced to hand over potentially incriminating documents.
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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...
