The Finanser’s Week: 15th February 2021- 21st February 2021

The main blog discussions this week include …

CBDCs, the Digital Euro and how it might work

I’m very aware that central banks are investigating the use of digital currencies, particularly as they can now see bitcoin gaining more and more traction (Tesla, Square and more committed – next is Apple?), but had not realised how extensive are those investigations. According to …

Is the Crypto revolution finally underway?

I haven’t commented much on bitcoin’s (BTC) recent surge, as I’ve been watching and waiting, but it is something. Just in case you didn’t notice, the value has moved from a low of under $5,000 per BTC in March 2020 to around $50,000 per BTC …

What was that Brexit deal, again?

Britain has left the EU, but now I read headlines everywhere saying cross-border movements are impossible, Ireland is broken, the City was ignored, our fisherman cannot sell shellfish and so on and so forth. A disaster? Possibly but, on the other hand, everything that is …

The links between purpose, digital and leadership

As mentioned the other day, I’m focused upon purpose-driven banking these days. I guess this theme has come to the fore because of digital transformation, as the two seem to go hand-in-hand, and it sits at the heart of leadership. These themes were reinforced for …

PC Banking

I made a joke the other day about visiting PC World, and you really have to watch what you say in there. Swimming with dolphins, using the word f**k, taking Rule Britannia out of the Proms, using the phrase nitty gritty, the list goes on. …

 

And the main news headlines are …

ESG demand prompts more than 250 European funds to change tack - Financial Times
Repurposing helped push European sustainable AUM to €1.1tn by the end of 2020

Citi loses fight to recoup mistaken payments - BBC
The bank had hoped to recover some of the nearly $900m it erroneously wired in August.

Who really owns the largest slice of Wall Street? - Guardian
The vast majority of people who trade in shares are already the wealthiest 10% of American households Robinhood wants to “democratize finance”, according to its mission statement . And, for a brief period last month, the trading app seemed to be doing just that as small investors appeared to be

Consumer fintechs will fail unless they rethink their business, says top bank exec - Sifted
Consumer fintechs which are not developing a corporate offering are setting themselves up to fail, according to the chief innovation officer of French bank Societie Generale. In an interview with Sifted, Claire Calmejane said that challenger banks still lag far behind her employer because they tend to focus exclusively on retail users, where unit economics are poor.

What will the next decade bring? Here are 20 predictions from trend forecasters | Emily Segal - Guardian
Like all predictions, these should be taken with a grain of salt ... At the beginning of every year, trend forecasters the world over put together expensive reports predicting what the future will bring. As a trend forecaster myself, I’ve read literally hundreds of predictions in the past few weeks

Decimalisation and the coin you really want to find in your change - BBC
To mark 50 years since decimalisation in the UK, an expert from The Royal Mint highlights recent coins of interest.

Monzo nearing 5 million customers and a new US CEO - Techcrunch
Monzo, the U.K. challenger bank with just shy of 5 million customers, has recruited a new U.S. CEO to head up its efforts states-side, TechCrunch has learned. Carol Nelson, who previously spent 10 years as CEO of Cascade Bank ...

Unrealistic and dangerous’ to stick to EU banking rules after Brexit, says Bank of England governor - The Independent
It would be "unrealistic" and "dangerous" for the UK to stick to EU banking rules after Brexit, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has said.

Barclays boss hopes to avoid more stormy weather - Guardian
After 12 turbulent months, Jes Staley will be keen to focus on the bank’s corporate performance and dodge further scandals Barclays will be hoping to avoid another bombshell announcement that could overshadow its full-year results, coming up this week, for a second year running. The British banking giant is expected

How the City became the UK’s powerhouse - Guardian
From the ‘big bang’ to Brexit, the financial sector has survived change and crisis to establish itself as a key force in Britain’s economy As the UK unwittingly approached the 2007 global banking crisis, London’s financial sector – known simply as the City, or the Square Mile – was reaching