Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

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Another rotten day for banks

Results season this week for Q4 earnings: JPMorgan – a $702 million Q4 net income compared to $3 billion a year ago;Citigroup – $8.29 billion losses and breaking into two banks;Bank of America – $1.79 billion loss, and $138 billion bailout thanks to Merrill making a $15.3 billion  loss;Deutsche Bank – $6.4 billion loss;Anglo Irish…

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Social microlending

I've blogged extensively about social finance and social lending. One of the most successful examples that demonstrate this idea is Kiva, as they are backed by the likes of Bill Clinton! Kiva is different to most social lending though as it's not about Joe and Jane saving for a wedding, but more about Saabir and…

Social microlending

I've blogged extensively about social finance and social lending. One of the most successful examples that demonstrate this idea is Kiva, as they are backed by the likes of Bill Clinton! Kiva is different to most social lending though as it's not about Joe and Jane saving for a wedding, but more about Saabir and…

Social microlending

I've blogged extensively about social finance and social lending. One of the most successful examples that demonstrate this idea is Kiva, as they are backed by the likes of Bill Clinton! Kiva is different to most social lending though as it's not about Joe and Jane saving for a wedding, but more about Saabir and…

Today, a penny makes all the difference

There are lots of stories in banking I could talk about this morning. There's the Citigroup story of selling their brokerage division to Morgan Stanley.  This is the brokerage Smith Barney that is today's remnants of the firm Salomon Brothers, famed for Liar's Poker stories.  It also represents more of the break-up of Citi as…

Today, a penny makes all the difference

There are lots of stories in banking I could talk about this morning. There's the Citigroup story of selling their brokerage division to Morgan Stanley.  This is the brokerage Smith Barney that is today's remnants of the firm Salomon Brothers, famed for Liar's Poker stories.  It also represents more of the break-up of Citi as…

$350m for cover(ing up) payments: deal or no deal?

Back in September, I said that someone would get a $500 million fine from the US authorities for a cover-up using cover payments. Well, someone has. That 'someone' is Lloyds TSB who settled with the US authorities for $350 million on Friday.  This seems like a lot at today's exchange rates of $1.50 to the…

Wells Fargo + Wachovia = Two Banks (Update)

On Tuesday, I posted about Wells Fargo's blog that will chart the course of their merger with Wachovia. On Friday, Matt Wadley posted on the blog the following comment: "It seems there's still some confusion out there about exactly what has changed to your accounts with either Wells Fargo Bank or Wachovia Bank. "And for…

Wells Fargo + Wachovia = Two Banks (Update)

On Tuesday, I posted about Wells Fargo's blog that will chart the course of their merger with Wachovia. On Friday, Matt Wadley posted on the blog the following comment: "It seems there's still some confusion out there about exactly what has changed to your accounts with either Wells Fargo Bank or Wachovia Bank. "And for…

Wells Fargo + Wachovia = Two Banks (Update)

On Tuesday, I posted about Wells Fargo's blog that will chart the course of their merger with Wachovia. On Friday, Matt Wadley posted on the blog the following comment: "It seems there's still some confusion out there about exactly what has changed to your accounts with either Wells Fargo Bank or Wachovia Bank. "And for…