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Shaping the future of finance

The Finanser’s Week: 20th August – 26th August 2012

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Our biggest stories of the past week are ...

Do
you believe in NFC?
I ‘ve been talking about contactless for years now -
I remember talking about the Octopus card system about ten years ago after it
launched in Hong Kong in 1997 – and still find it surprising how invisible it
is....

What
is the alternative to LIBOR?
 
After
the LIBOR debacle and the money laundering affairs of Standard Chartered and
HSBC, the UK’s banks reputation are in the toilet. Now we have to rebuild, and
this is where it gets interesting and challenging. After claiming that the...

The
impact of mobile: bigger than you think?
 
This week’s TIME Magazine has a spread all about how mobile technologies are
changing our world. There are stories of how it’s changing elections, charity,
privacy and more, as well as getting rid of our wallets of course. The
wallet...

Britain:
a nation of whiners (except during the Olympics)
 
Which? Magazine stirred up the old debate about free banking yesterday, by
publishing a report which shattered the image of free banking being free. They
asked over 2,000 consumers how they felt about banks and more than 60% of
those...

In whom
do we trust?

One of the reoccurring conversations in banking is trust. I’ve blogged about it
many times, and it’s a point that arises in almost every conversation about how
banks prosper. There are two sorts of trust here however. Trust in banks...

 

The major general news stories of the past week include ... 

'Darth
Vader' to head JPMorgan's inquiry into losses by London Whale
- The
Independent

One of America's most notorious oil
executives has been selected by JPMorgan to lead the internal inquiry into the
$6bn (£3.8bn) of trading losses run up by the so-called London Whale.

Suicide
of Deloitte partner Daniel Pirron linked to Standard Chartered's Iran scandal

- The Telegraph

The family of a senior partner at Deloitte
has called for answers after he apparently committed suicide days after the
auditing firm was linked to the Standard Chartered Iran dollar trades scandal.

HSBC
to fight British regulators 'to the death' to protect dividend
- The
Telegraph

HSBC is willing to "fight to the
death" to prevent British regulators from attempting to force it to stop
paying its dividend in order to preserve capital.

Free
banking a myth, says Which?
- BBC

Consumer group Which? says there are large
variations between banks in the cost of "free" current accounts.

Free
banking: what are the alternatives to the high street banks?
- The
Telegraph

As banks are accused of offering
"mythical" free banking, we look at the alternatives.

Savers
'spurning banks'
- The Independent

The recent spate of banking scandals, such
as Libor fixing, coupled with a lack of trust and chronic low interest rates
mean that savers are turning their backs on traditional high street banks, a
survey suggests.

Virgin
Money takes market share from Big Five banks
- The Telegraph

Virgin Money is taking retail market share
from the "Big Five" banks as borrowers shun the traditional high
street lenders following a succession of industry scandals.

Bank
of England deputy governor Paul Tucker warned banks they could collapse 'before
Christmas'
- The Telegraph

Bank of England officials were so concerned
about the potential for a financial crisis late last year they took the
extra­ordinary step of warning the entire banking system could collapse
"before Christmas".

How
British banking broke down
- BBC

How is the UK doing on fixing broken
banking?

Global
banking scandals explained
- BBC

A guide to the scandals engulfing banking

 

If you like the Finanser, check out the books of the blog: the Complete Banker Series

 

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For details of sponsorship email us.

 

Chris Skinner Author Avatar

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...

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