Chris Skinner's blog Shaping the future of finance

So I finally sussed out a way to make my long-term vision of sticking chips inside people for payments a reality through a medium-term transition away from my short-term loathing for Chip & PIN.  This will be achieved as we strip things back to the …

The US Dollar rules the global markets, even whilst it is being bombarded during the credit crunch.  After all, nearly all countries across Latin America and the Middle East are tied to the dollar.   That is why the dollar is the reserve currency of the …

What goes around comes around … Some things never change …  Same old, same old … Y’know you’re getting old when you are tired of hearing a debate about something fundamental but just continual. And so if men are from Mars and women are from …

Hello.  Sorry for emailing you out of the blue, but my name is Ishamal Nicker, and my brother was killed in the Iraq war before he could move his money back to Lebanon.  He had $20,000,000 in a Switzerland bank account and has given me …

The conference I presented at last week in Barcelona focused upon future banking, and we had an audience of international bank managers from around the world.  The conference organiser gave me the opportunity to ask some questions of the audience.  You know the sort of thing, …

I spent a day in Barcelona last week … put your hands up for Barcelona, a lovely city. For those in the know they’ll get this and, for those who aren’t in the know, I’m speaking in a foreign language.  That’s the point though as, …

I spent a day in Barcelona last week … put your hands up for Barcelona, a lovely city. For those in the know they’ll get this and, for those who aren’t in the know, I’m speaking in a foreign language.  That’s the point though as, …

I spent a day in Barcelona last week … put your hands up for Barcelona, a lovely city. For those in the know they’ll get this and, for those who aren’t in the know, I’m speaking in a foreign language.  That’s the point though as, …

I’m confused. Microsoft is shipping a new version of BizTalk Server 2006 late in 2007? How retro. Microsoft did not change any features in the shipping release since the last beta, says Steve Martin, the company’s director of connected systems product management. "We hardened some …

The WSJ got hold of a copy of Greenspan’s new book, due out Monday. Sounds a little mixed. The Ayn Rand devotee who played a partisan game in supporting skewed tax cuts by Bush, criticizes the Republicans for losing their one-time small government focus. One …

Whew. Knew there was some reason I pay good money for my Journal subscription. Or subscriptions. When I called to complain about getting two copies a day they took action. Today I got three.   Anyway, some secret shoppers from Sandler O’Neill & Partners came …

Whew. Knew there was some reason I pay good money for my Journal subscription. Or subscriptions. When I called to complain about getting two copies a day they took action. Today I got three.   Anyway, some secret shoppers from Sandler O’Neill & Partners came …

High Performance Computing on Wall Street has been running for a couple of years now, but interest seems at an all-time high this year. Today I have talked to IBM, Cisco and, on a related matter, Platform Computing. One common theme, which I will elaborate …

The Mainframe Migration Alliance (MMA) and the Midrange Alliance Program (MAP) will host a meeting on legacy modernization at the Fira Palace Hotel in Barcelona from 1:00 – 4:00 pm on 9 October. The meeting will provide an opportunity to learn more about Microsoft’s plans …

After yesterday’s blog about the state of the markets and the concluding line: "When you see a way of making money with no risks, you see the fool’s gold", I guess the obvious question is: Why didn’t the banks see the fool’s gold?  After all, …

After yesterday’s blog about the state of the markets and the concluding line: "When you see a way of making money with no risks, you see the fool’s gold", I guess the obvious question is: Why didn’t the banks see the fool’s gold?  After all, …

Some totally obvious comments are coming out in the media today. Take the UK’s new Chancellor of the Exchequer (the old one got promoted to Prime Minister) Alistair Darling who is headlined today as saying that banks “need to know who they’re lending to, how …

The headline that caught my attention this morning is the launch of a Prepaid MasterCard by the Sun. For those who are unfamiliar with the UK newspaper, it is the most widely circulated with over three million copies distributed to almost eight million readers, most …

During the weekend, there were lots of reports on the attack by Eric Knight on HSBC’s governance and strategy.  Eric Knight, who is CEO of Knight Vinke Asset Management, is airing his concerns in public, he claims, as a result of the FSA’s Market Watch …

During the weekend, there were lots of reports on the attack by Eric Knight on HSBC’s governance and strategy.  Eric Knight, who is CEO of Knight Vinke Asset Management, is airing his concerns in public, he claims, as a result of the FSA’s Market Watch …

During the weekend, there were lots of reports on the attack by Eric Knight on HSBC’s governance and strategy.  Eric Knight, who is CEO of Knight Vinke Asset Management, is airing his concerns in public, he claims, as a result of the FSA’s Market Watch …

This is not a new news story, but it is a news story.  Banking is a man’s world.    Sounds a bit sexist doesn’t it, but many of us would say that there is still active discrimination in some business sectors on the grounds of …

This is not a new news story, but it is a news story.  Banking is a man's world.   Sounds a bit sexist doesn't it, but many of us would say that there is still active discrimination in some business sectors on the grounds of …

Article 13(5) of MiFID states: "An investment firm shall ensure, when relying on a third party for the performance of operational functions which are critical for the provision of continuous and satisfactory service to clients and the performance of investment activities on a continuous basis, …

Article 13(5) of MiFID states: "An investment firm shall ensure, when relying on a third party for the performance of operational functions which are critical for the provision of continuous and satisfactory service to clients and the performance of investment activities on a continuous basis, …

Just after Finextra publish my thought piece on the future method of authentication being RFID style chip implants inside humans, which I’ve blogged about before btw as I do truly believe it will happen, the Los Angeles Times broke the news that the Terminator’s State …

Just after Finextra publish my thought piece on the future method of authentication being RFID style chip implants inside humans, which I’ve blogged about before btw as I do truly believe it will happen, the Los Angeles Times broke the news that the Terminator’s State …

Just after Finextra publish my thought piece on the future method of authentication being RFID style chip implants inside humans, which I’ve blogged about before btw as I do truly believe it will happen, the Los Angeles Times broke the news that the Terminator’s State …