Chris Skinner's blog Shaping the future of finance

Interesting to see that Techcrunch have questioned Google’s post of a trillion unique URLs indexed, saying it’s more like 40 billion.  That’s still a lot, but why would Google mislead us? Because a major new competitor is launched next week, according to Techcrunch’s view of …

Interesting to see that Techcrunch have questioned Google’s post of a trillion unique URLs indexed, saying it’s more like 40 billion.  That’s still a lot, but why would Google mislead us? Because a major new competitor is launched next week, according to Techcrunch’s view of …

Interesting to see that Techcrunch have questioned Google’s post of a trillion unique URLs indexed, saying it’s more like 40 billion.  That’s still a lot, but why would Google mislead us? Because a major new competitor is launched next week, according to Techcrunch’s view of …

Google blog about the fact that they’ve just exceeded indexing over 1 trillion unique URLs.  That’s 1,000,000,000,000.  That’s 1,000 times more than the billion pages they reached on their indexes in 2000, which was 400 times more than the 26 million pages they indexed way …

This is according to a survey performed by PSE Consulting and published on Euractiv yesterday. The Payment Services Directive (PSD) is the bit of integrating Europe’s low value payments systems that provides the legal support for the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA).  The only thing …

This is according to a survey performed by PSE Consulting and published on Euractiv yesterday. The Payment Services Directive (PSD) is the bit of integrating Europe’s low value payments systems that provides the legal support for the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA).  The only thing …

This is according to a survey performed by PSE Consulting and published on Euractiv yesterday. The Payment Services Directive (PSD) is the bit of integrating Europe’s low value payments systems that provides the legal support for the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA).  The only thing …

The phrase “a borderless, neutral single market for securities across Europe” is one that appears regularly throughout all communications on settlements services from the European Central Bank (ECB) and European Commission.  In fact, it appeared a lot last Friday, when the ECB released two key …

The phrase “a borderless, neutral single market for securities across Europe” is one that appears regularly throughout all communications on settlements services from the European Central Bank (ECB) and European Commission.  In fact, it appeared a lot last Friday, when the ECB released two key …

I’ve blogged lots about social networks, social media, Web 2.0, blogs, mobile banking, mobile payments, internet banking and more. My continual gripe has been: where is the Bank 2.0?  I’ve been talking about it, but I’ve never seen one. Today, I saw the first Bank …

I’ve blogged lots about social networks, social media, Web 2.0, blogs, mobile banking, mobile payments, internet banking and more. My continual gripe has been: where is the Bank 2.0?  I’ve been talking about it, but I’ve never seen one. Today, I saw the first Bank …

The International Central Securities Depositories (ICSDs) of Euroclear and Clearstream are very competitive with and against each other and, as mentioned yesterday, there are many other services that CSDs offer other than just settlement. The Linked Up Markets group and other activities are starting to …

The International Central Securities Depositories (ICSDs) of Euroclear and Clearstream are very competitive with and against each other and, as mentioned yesterday, there are many other services that CSDs offer other than just settlement. The Linked Up Markets group and other activities are starting to …

The International Central Securities Depositories (ICSDs) of Euroclear and Clearstream are very competitive with and against each other and, as mentioned yesterday, there are many other services that CSDs offer other than just settlement. The Linked Up Markets group and other activities are starting to …

Great example here of social media websites that rock, according to mashable.com.   Of the 35 corporate websites chosen, including Blendtec (my favourite), Cisco, Coca-Cola, Dell, Ford, IBM, Marriott, McDonalds, the New York Times, Starbucks, Toyota and Xerox, three financial firms make the lists:   …

Great example here of social media websites that rock, according to mashable.com.   Of the 35 corporate websites chosen, including Blendtec (my favourite), Cisco, Coca-Cola, Dell, Ford, IBM, Marriott, McDonalds, the New York Times, Starbucks, Toyota and Xerox, three financial firms make the lists:   …

I’m not sure how far this series will run but, like the numbers series, I thought I would start a "can’t hide anything" series.  This is where information is leaked so fast it could be completely transparent. The star of the first of the series …

I’m not sure how far this series will run but, like the numbers series, I thought I would start a "can’t hide anything" series.  This is where information is leaked so fast it could be completely transparent. The star of the first of the series …

I’m not sure how far this series will run but, like the numbers series, I thought I would start a "can’t hide anything" series.  This is where information is leaked so fast it could be completely transparent. The star of the first of the series …

In the context of Clearing and Settlement, we have an issue. The issue is one of transparency, access, interoperability and accounting. The European Commission, Alberto Giovannini, the Code of Conduct and the Monitoring Group have all tried to change this, but it is not changing …

In the context of Clearing and Settlement, we have an issue. The issue is one of transparency, access, interoperability and accounting. The European Commission, Alberto Giovannini, the Code of Conduct and the Monitoring Group have all tried to change this, but it is not changing …

For those who bank online and want to be educated about phishing, spam, online security and viruses through an easy-to-follow ABC video, then Barclays are your bank. A new vidcast launched last week that is quite educational and interesting, and talks about PINSentry and all …

If you haven’t spotted it, Bloomberg is running a great analysis of the challenges Citigroup faces and particularly what their latest CEO, Vikram Pandit, is trying to achieve.  Well worth the read.

Brussels. 1998. A small, windowless room, in the lower halls of the European Parliament. The euro is almost here and the European Central Bank has just been inaugurated. High value settlement systems are in play and central banks can process euro’s across the Eurozone therefore. …

We make the financial world incredibly complex and, because I’m going to spend the whole week talking about Clearing & Settlement, we need to simplify it. In order to do that, I thought I would relay a conversation I had over the weekend where I …

We make the financial world incredibly complex and, because I’m going to spend the whole week talking about Clearing & Settlement, we need to simplify it. In order to do that, I thought I would relay a conversation I had over the weekend where I …

We make the financial world incredibly complex and, because I’m going to spend the whole week talking about Clearing & Settlement, we need to simplify it. In order to do that, I thought I would relay a conversation I had over the weekend where I …

Well I never.  The Royal Bank of Scotland’s insurance division, Churchill, are in deep water over their latest advert using the Whitesnake song, "Here I Go Again", as background.  No, not for using the Whitesnake song, but for sneaking in the F-word at the end …