The Finanser’s Week: 19th January 2015 – 25th January 2015

Our biggest stories of the past week are ...

Convincing management to renew core systems

I’m often asked what I mean by a digital core and how to convince management to buy into it.  What I mean by a digital core is that the bank has made itself cleansed and ready to join the new generation of fintech.  It has renewed and refreshed its core systems by replacing them. 

Banks face more change in next 10 years than in the last 200

Sticking with the future predictions, I usually quote the great American baseball player Yogi Berra: “it’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future”.  He had quite a few comments of that ilk: “the future isn’t what it used to be”, and it is certainly true.  It is particularly true when we look at the Digital Revolution as pointed out by Lord Blackwell, who Chairs Lloyds Banking Group, when he recently stated that the banking industry is going to see more change in the next 10 years than it has seen over the last 200.

Watch the future unfold (the best future vids on YouTube)

I often scan the net for videos portraying visions of the future.  To be honest, most of them look the same now.  For example, in my last set, I posted visions from Corning, Micrsoft and more.  Having done this three times - one, two,three - I guess I can start a series, so this is the fourth.

The investment management industry is broken (it's no longer about Alpha)

I just received some fascinating research into the state of the investment management industry from State Street Research.  The research was conducted over a period of 18 months through surveys of 3,744 investors, investment providers, government officials and regulators, across 19 countries.  Here’s the summary:

Do corporates give a buck?

I regularly encounter discussions about corporates’ needs from banks that say: the corporate generally doesn’t give a buck about their banking.  Apparently most corporates do not understand banking, do not care about getting the best services and rely far too much on their cosy sense of keeping the status quo. Actually, banks probably feel the same way too, but at least they try.

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

Monitise shares crumble as it reviews options - The Telegraph
Shares in the mobile banking company have fallen by more than 60pc since Questor advised selling shares

Metro Bank plots further expansion after loans double - The Telegraph
Bank continues to make loss but increases customers to almost half a million as it plans to open new branches

Currency cap: Brokers reveal details of damage from Swiss chaos - The Independent
The UK’s biggest spread-betting firm, IG Group, said yesterday that it would “learn lessons” from last week’s stunning reversal by the Swiss National Bank (SNB), which cost it £30m.

Savers getting raw deal, says FCA - BBC
Millions of savers are getting a raw deal - particularly from the big High Street banks, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has concluded.

The wealth that failed to trickle down: Report suggests rich do get richer while poor stay poor - The Independent
It started out as a joke: “Money was appropriated for the top in hopes that it would trickle down to the needy,” quipped the American humorist, and one-time circus cowboy, Will Rogers, during the Great Depression. But in the 1980s, in the age of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, politicians

Regulators must check all senior bankers, says Andrew Tyrie - The Telegraph
Britain's two main banking regulators plan to bring in new rules that make bankers accountable for their decisions, but senior staff will be exempt from background checks

Weavering hedge fund boss Ulf Magnus Michael Peterson guilty of fraud - The Independent
The founder of one of London’s best-known hedge funds has been found guilty of a $536m (£354m) fraud following a three-month trial at Southwark Crown Court.

Leading banker Antonio Simoes says being gay has been 'an advantage' in the world of finance - The Independent
A leading UK banker has put his success in the financial world down to the fact that he is gay.

Richest 1% to own more than the rest - BBC
Wealth amassed by the richest 1% will soon overtake the amount owned by everyone else in the world, says charity group Oxfam.

How to set up a new bank: 'It'll take you longer than you think and cost more than you think' - The Telegraph
Hampden & Co bankers explain their four-year effort to join the ranks of the challenger banks.        

 

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