Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

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Things worth reading: 7th December 2015

Things worth reading today include … Jes Staley Said to Mull Deeper Cuts at Barclays Investment Bank ‘Too many funds do the same thing’ OnDeck/JPMorgan: Fine tech Uneasy calm in markets about upcoming U.S. rate increase, BIS says National Australia Bank pitches Clydesdale flotation to investors Vodafone brings mobile money to 15m people without bank…

The Finanser’s Week: 23rd November – 6th December 2015

Our main stories of the past two weeks include … 110 years to save for retirement: the future of mortgages, pensions and savings I don’t like talking about the long-term future much, as who knows anything about the long-term future?  Nevertheless, there are some things that are obvious in the long-term future based upon technological…

Things worth reading: 4th December 2015

Things worth reading today include … Antony Jenkins ‘surprised’ at Barclays sacking Goldman bets on SETLcoin Mario Draghi extends quantitative easing: what the ECB decision means for savings and mortgages ECB’s Mario Draghi expected to boost QE after weak eurozone inflation data ECB moves to boost eurozone economy After Yellen’s teaser comes Draghi the easer…

Things worth reading: 1st December 2015

Things we’re reading today include … Bank shares rise after stress tests RBS and Standard Chartered singled out as BoE unveils stress test results Funding Circle’s peer-to-peer trust raises £150m in London Stock Exchange listing Chinese banks miss out on the party as Asian M&As pass $1 trillion mark ICBC Standard Bank pays out $32.5m…

Banks must move to the cloud before it’s too late

This blog entry first appeared on SAP for Banking, October 2015. There’s a lot of talk about augmented banking using artificial intelligence and Big Data analytics these days, but what does that mean in reality or, if you prefer, virtual reality?  It’s not clear, yet.  It is obvious that the developing focus upon Big Data and data…

Things worth reading: 25th November 2015

Things we’re reading today include … City watchdog to look into the use of ‘big data’ by insurers Yim Fung: Chairman at Chinese broker Guotai Junan Securities goes missing Europe’s banks still weighed down by €1 trillion of bad debts Treasury will meet challenger banks four times a year amid concerns sector is not a…

Barclays on the blockchain

I blogged about the Whitechapel Think Tank last week and Simon Taylor, Vice President for Entrepreneurial Partnerships at Barclays, opened the evening with some really interesting slides about blockchain technologies and their potential in Financial Services. Simon pointed out that: Banks spend near Google levels of $ on IT without as much productivity Banks are facing ever…

Things worth reading: 23rd November 2015

Things we're reading today include … China just uncovered a $64 billion 'underground bank' Deutsche Bank tests password-free mobile security We'd support HSBC leaving London, says Standard Life Chinese brokerage's shares plunge after CEO disappears Cyber theft hits one in five consumers Inadequate dirty money regulation 'leaves UK open to terror funds': report Traffic-light bank…

The Finanser’s Week: 16th November – 22nd November 2015

Our main stories this week include … Where is the banks’ tipping point? I had an interesting discussion about change in the banking markets again the other day.  We were citing emerging new players like Square, Stripe, Klarna and Lending Club, as well as players that have already emerged like PayPal and Apple Pay.  In…

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Things worth reading: 20th November 2015

Things we're reading today include … Young 'to be poorer than parents' RBS scraps bonuses for bank staff Singapore bourse challenges old obstacles with new bond trading system Mortgage lending 'strongest since 2008' The demise of HBOS: The demise of HBOS: How it happened 'Moral Hazard': the two missing words that rob HBOS report of…