Our biggest stories of the week are ...
Being in New York this week, I decided to relax today and booked a trip around the vaults of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. This was on a recommendation from a friend, and proved to be interesting, especially as there is $XXX in the vault.
If payments are free, who pays?
One of the big questions we want to focus upon during the Long Finance debates at SIBOS this year is: if payments are free, who pays? The discussion is all around the concept that payments have been so commoditised and disrupted that they are irrelevant as a source of value and revenue generation. There’s no margins there, and so what is it that a bank should focus upon? This question goes alongside the previous three discussed here on the blog: When will we know there won't be another meltdown? Who will be the next global superpower? and What happens when there is no more poverty?
Integrating social media and bank operations
I had a really interesting webchat with two other bloggers the other day: Brett King of Bank 2.0 and Christophe Langlois of Visible Banking. The conversation was meant to be about all things but the CEO of one bank joined in the conversation and it rapidly honed in on the issues of integrating social dialogue and bank communications, and how security and risk operations make this a challenge.
Want to know a little more about why Britain's first bank without branches works, and yet others don't? Then find out as First Direct celebrate their 21st birthday.
Why Santander doesn’t work (yet)
Building on the theme that First Direct works as a bank without branches, why isn’t Santander working as a bank with branches.
Monthly MiFID MTF Monitor, September 2010
We are pleased to provide our eighth month of monitoring the MTF performances in European Equities trading, in partnership with Thomson Reuters Equity Market Share Reporter (EMSR).
The major general news stories of the week include ...
Rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel ordered to pay 4.9 billion euros in damages
Jérôme Kerviel, the French rogue trader, has been sentenced to three years in jail for losing his bank almost five billion euros and has been ordered to pay the astronomical sum back.
Jérôme Kerviel will need 177,000 years to repay €5 billion
Jérôme Kerviel, the rogue French trader sentenced to three years in jail yesterday for losing the bank he worked for €5 billion (£4.4 billion), has been ordered to repay the full amount despite calculations that it would take him more than 177,000 years to do so.
Warren Buffett says in future Wall Street chiefs should go broke - and their wives
Billionaire investor hits out at 'casino' pay on Wall Street, claiming 'it's like a church that's running raffles on the weekend'.
Commission kills hopes of Lloyds or RBS sell-off
Hopes that that the taxpayer might soon see a return from the billions pumped into Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) have been all but written off thanks to the launch of the Banking Commission.
Banks may need new bailout, warns think-tank
Taxpayers should be braced for another multi-billion bail-out of Britain’s banks, a left-leaning think tank claims today.
RBS chairman Sir Philip Hampton says a lot of bankers are overpaid
The chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland has admitted that the state-backed lender is paying big salaries to staff who are not "worth it".
Roman Abramovich's Millhouse warns Ireland of legal action over Irish Nationwide bail-out
Billionaire's asset manager warns Irish government of 'reputation loss' and possible legal action if it is forced to pay for bail-out of Irish Nationwide.
Britain's banks 'ain't broke' so don't fix them, says UBS
The UK's "permanent revolution" of its regulation for the banking industry, is weakening one of the healthiest financial systems in Europe, according to UBS.
We shouldn't care if bankers are well paid, as long as they are paid well
It is obvious that bankers aren't badly paid but they are paid badly. Go figure.
Tesco to launch mortgages and current accounts
Supermarket giant Tesco said today that its banking arm was set to become a "significant" part of its business as it finalised plans to launch mortgages and current accounts.
The Financial Services Club is sponsored by:
For details of sponsorship email us.
Chris M Skinner
Chris Skinner is best known as an independent commentator on the financial markets through his blog, TheFinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank, and Chair of the European networking forum the Financial Services Club. He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal's Financial News. To learn more click here...
