After outlining the four main buckets of risk that banks have to tame: market, credit, liquidity and operational; the real issue is the bank’s structure. Historically, banks have been built in product silos and hence there is no sense of enterprise risk. The retail and commercial bank secures funding through the investment bank, but none…
When I first started working in banking, I didn't have much idea about risk, Then I was told about market and credit risk, the two major forms of trading risk in the mainstream markets. Put simply: market risk is the risk of losses from trading whilst credit risk is the risk of the counterparty being…
After the huge arguments between London and Brussels over bankers’ bonus levels, where the UK has argued Europe is encouraging our bankers to leave and go to Geneva, New York and Hong Kong, we have now responded by introducing levels of punishment for financial wrongdoing that far outstrips those in Geneva, New York and Hong…
I just read some interesting research by the Bank Workers Charity, a charity set up over a century ago to provide education to orphans but, today, a charity that looks after the needs of redundant or sick (not cool, but ill) workers in finance. They’ve been very busy lately. One of the more interesting things…
Returning to the subject of cloud computing, I mentioned that it is starting to succeed by being more relevant through a vertical focus, but there is still more to be done for cloud to truly take off in banking. In particular, most banks have a concern about the risk of cloud and who is accountable. …
Things we're reading today include … Citi agrees to pay $7 billion to settle securities investigation Bank branches still popular as online banking continues to rise Global fund managers face multi-asset skills shortage Thousands refunded for payday loans Co-op Bank boss to head AIB BIS chief fears fresh Lehman from worldwide debt surge Insurers struggle…
I often hear the lament from bankers that their business is designed around products, rather than customers. They have been built upon product silo’s, where customer consistency of experience and interaction falls through cracks. As you look at processes, the hand-off between a customer with a deposit account to their mortgage account, their cards, their…
We had another fine evening at the Financial Services Club the other night, debating customer focus in banking: where is it? with a debate between: Owen Woodley, Managing Director, Retail Banking, Lloyds Banking Group; Derek French, Head of the Campaign for Community Banking Services (CCBS); and Anthony Thomson, co-Founder Metro Bank and Atom Bank. Owen…
I organised a fascinating dinner focused upon what banks could learn from retailers the other night. As the evening transpired, various thoughts popped into my head and felt it worth recording them here. On the one hand, we are in awe of technology retail brands, especially Amazon; on the other, retailers have no idea about…
