Regulation

Can regulators really make markets more stable?

I found myself sceptically smiling when reading that the Financial Stability Forum is going to make the banking world safer by: Strengthening prudential oversight of capital, liquidity and risk management; Enhancing transparency and valuation; Changing the role and uses of credit ratings; Strengthening the authorities’ responsiveness to risks; and Ensuring there are robust arrangements for…

I wish banks had never invented the one thing they give us for free

This was a comment I made during a panel at the ACT Conference in Edinburgh, where I joined esteemed speakers in a BBC Question Time style debate, chaired by Andrew Neil, the political journalist and writer. The other speakers on the panel were: Angela Knight CBE, CEO, British Bankers’ Association;  Robert Waugh, Head of UK…

Mind the GAAP? No, scrap the GAAP

The Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) used across the USA for financial reporting appear to be fatally flawed. As a result, America is scrapping GAAP to move towards the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) used around the rest of the world. The question is how fast can this be achieved? Part of the reason for…

FSA fines outsourcing firm a million dollars

Under our radar, as it is in the pensions markets, but something very noteworthy occurred last week.  The FSA attacked the outsourcing and Third Party Administration Markets by fining Liberata over a million dollars for failures in its systems and controls for managing and issuing pensions policies. Margaret Cole, Director of Enforcement at the FSA…

FSA fines outsourcing firm a million dollars

Under our radar, as it is in the pensions markets, but something very noteworthy occurred last week.  The FSA attacked the outsourcing and Third Party Administration Markets by fining Liberata over a million dollars for failures in its systems and controls for managing and issuing pensions policies. Margaret Cole, Director of Enforcement at the FSA…

G7 creates the Global Ivy League of Banking

The Global Ivy League is the scenario of truth for the future banking markets. More globally harmonised regulation creates less innovation, but more security, amongst the major league players who we feel we can trust. Or rather, our politicians feel we should trust. Read more …

G7 creates the Global Ivy League of Banking

The Global Ivy League is the scenario of truth for the future banking markets. More globally harmonised regulation creates less innovation, but more security, amongst the major league players who we feel we can trust. Or rather, our politicians feel we should trust. Read more …

G7 creates the Global Ivy League of Banking

The Global Ivy League is the scenario of truth for the future banking markets. More globally harmonised regulation creates less innovation, but more security, amongst the major league players who we feel we can trust. Or rather, our politicians feel we should trust. Read more …

Post-MiFID, the challenge is Clearing and Settlement

Today’s Financial Times has a report on algo trading, with the following line in the middle: "Last week Chi-X, an upstart platform majority-owned by Instinet Europe, marked its first anniversary by capturing almost 15 per cent of total trading in LSE-listed shares at one point during the day. A trade executed on its system takes…

Post-MiFID, the challenge is Clearing and Settlement

Today’s Financial Times has a report on algo trading, with the following line in the middle: "Last week Chi-X, an upstart platform majority-owned by Instinet Europe, marked its first anniversary by capturing almost 15 per cent of total trading in LSE-listed shares at one point during the day. A trade executed on its system takes…