Today Z/Yen, a London-based research and consultancy firm, publishes the twenty-first Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI 21) in collaboration with the China Development Institute (CDI). The GFCI rates 88 financial centres and finds the top ten are: London New York Singapore Hong Kong Tokyo San Francisco Chicago Sydney Boston Toronto Updated every six months, the main…
I wrote a piece recently about the challenges of being a challenger bank. It coincided with the news that my friends at solarisBank had just achieved a Series A funding round of €26 million. Neatly, co-founder of solarisBank Marko Wenthin spotted my post and decided to send a reply. Here is his thoughts on being a…
Things we’re reading today include … Brexit: Single market benefit ‘largely imaginary’ Deutsche Bank commits to London by securing new HQ Secure Trust shuns bid for troubled Co-op Bank Kenya starts selling bonds via mobile phones The investigation into the Bangladesh Bank heist continues An earthquake in European banking RBS and NatWest to shed 158…
Things we’re reading today include … Hopes fade for Co-op Bank turnaround plan City watchdog wins legal battle with ‘London Whale’ executive UBS charges customers to deposit euros Cheques will clear in just 24 hours thanks to smartphone imaging tech Brexit vote: Single market benefit ‘largely imaginary’ MPs warn system for preventing cyber attacks against…
I blogged a year ago about TechFin, the incumbents’ view of applying technology to existing banking services, versus FinTech which seeks to transform the financial system. That has become one of the top search terms to find my blog, as it turns out, mainly because my blog entries are the first to be returned when searching…
Things we’re reading today include … Bank that lent $300m to Trump linked to Russian money laundering scam Brexit: What the biggest banks are planning once Theresa May begins EU departure Goldman Sachs to expand EU presence ahead of Brexit Wall Street suffers worst day this year Deutsche slips in global investment bank rankings Investment…
There was an interesting article in The Independent last week about the big banks becoming bigger since the financial crisis hit. The article notes that the big American banks control 70% of all US assets, and that this figure has increased 40% since 2008. In the lead up to 2008, parallel to increasing debt levels,…
On Wednesday the American Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)* followed up on its promise last December to introduce a national bank charter for Fintech bank startups by issuing a white paper on how to apply for a licence, the evaluation process and what will be involved. It’s a massive move towards allowing…
Things we’re reading today include … Wall Street bonus pool boosted by Trump rally Bank of America shareholders revive chairman debate Wells Fargo CEO receives pay bump despite sales scandal Exclusive: London gold rush – ICE to launch clearing before banks are ready Government to set up new anti-money laundering watchdog How the world’s central…
I’ve just been alerted by friend Gijs Boudewijn to the release of a fascinating white paper by BIS, the Bank for International Settlements (the guys who do Basel stuff and are big cohonez in banking circles). Their Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures released Distributed ledger technology in payment, clearing and settlement: an analytical framework…
