The main blog headlines are …
How to make a small island a big centre for FinTech
One of the discussions at the UN meetings was around SIDS, the Small Island Developing States. I didn’t know much about SIDS but, when investigating further, discovered I did. They range from islands like Belize and Puerto Rico to Mauritius and Barbados to Bahrain and …
BlackRock’s BS … and other stories of sustainable finance
A big area of debate in banking that has been around since the 1990s is how to make banks more accountable for sustainability. I talk about this a lot these days as 71% of all Green House Gas (GHGs) emissions emitted on planet earth since …
Sustainable finance for sustainable abundance
Talking of Long Finance (see last week’s updates on sustainable finance), there’s some really interesting publications from the group that runs this program, in partnership with the Financial Services Club. This builds on the work of the Long Now. I wrote a long blog about The …
Is there any way to change the status quo?
No, I’m not talking about Francis Rossi but the issue of how to achieve sustainability. This came up during a lunch, where my lunch colleague had picked up on my discussions of sustainable finance, and started to debate how we could change things. The issue …
A long while ago, I had an early start to get to a meeting. Leaving home before sunrise, I went from subway to train to taxi, and arrived bright eyed and bushy tailed. However, as the day went on, my battery started to run dry. …
And the top news headlines this week are …
Sajid Javid: What should we expect from new chancellor? - BBC
Sajid Javid is a former banker and the son of a bus driver, so which way will he steer the economy?
Metro Bank to replace founder Vernon Hill as chairman - The Guardian
Bank was under pressure to shake up leadership after accounting error Metro Bank is replacing its chairman, Vernon Hill, after pressure to overhaul its leadership following a major accounting error . On Wednesday the bank reported an 84% drop in pre-tax profits to £3.4m over the first half of the
Of course, Jeff Epstein moved his dirty money through Deutsche Bank ... where else? - Vanity Fair
With an estimated net worth of $559 million, accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein (who has pleaded not guilty) was never going to keep his money under a mattress, beyond the $70,000 in cash and 48 loose diamonds he kept in a safe alongside a fake passport, just in case.
Expand credit unions as alternative to payday lenders, FCA urges - Guardian
Non-profit cooperatives should be encouraged to disrupt high-cost lenders, says regulator The financial regulator is calling for a government review of credit union rules to give vulnerable consumers a viable alternative to payday lenders. The Financial Conduct Authority said looser laws would allow credit unions to offer a wider range
A society’s values and beliefs matter for its economy - Economist
And cultural change can unlock the economic potential of people and ideas
What's the best way to stay awake in meetings? - BBC
Most of us have experienced meeting-induced drowsiness - here are six tips to beating it.
Neil Woodford's listed fund invests £10m in Atom Bank - Guardian
First major deal since shuttering of Equity Income Fund fails to excite investors Neil Woodford’s stock-market-listed fund has announced its first major investment since the shuttering of its flagship sister vehicle last month. Woodford Patient Capital Trust confirmed on Monday that it was pumping £10m into Atom Bank, keeping its
Will America go from hunter to hunted in cross-border tax evasion? - Economist
Finland targets taxpayers with hidden American accounts, in what could become a trend
The links between a former football chair and a failed P2P lender - Financial Times
Lendy made £27m of its £152m of loans to companies controlled by Stewart Day
Have central bank gambles paid off? | Mohamed El-Erian - Guardian
Unconventional policies may have staved off short-term economic collapse but they may not foster long-term growth In recent years, central banks have made a large policy wager. They bet that the protracted use of unconventional and experimental measures would provide an effective bridge to more comprehensive measures that would generate
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...
