Our biggest stories of the week are ...
Various cartoons and images amused me last week. First was Brookes cartoon in the Times about Greek debt and, in the same newspaper, the uneasy ride that Angela Merkel is taking with Nicholas Sarkozy as they try to steer through this disaster and his upcoming elections:
This week saw the inaugural meeting of the Clearing & Settlement Working Group (CAS-WG), which was well attended by over 100 industry figures from all parts of the investment markets and hosted at BT’s City Head Office in St Paul’s...
We talk about Big Data and information leverage a lot. Banks are underutilising the data they have about customers and should be far more holistic in approach. It’s a theme on the blog regularly, and is challenged by various issues ...
It's a leap year, so I thought I'd celebrate by releasing some new books through my brilliant publishers, Searching Finance. There are two new books released today: Are Bankers Good or Bad for Society? and The City of London: How ...
A lengthy discussion yesterday about retail distribution channels for banks. The debate began with whether a traditional bank could succeed in launching new channels against clean sheet start-ups. The answer, imho, is no. First, a different audience is attracted to ...
Europe is full of stereotypes. The Spanish are always manana, the Italians are all corrupt, the Germans will force you to do it their way and the Brits are always drunk. Some of this is true – as we all...
The major general news stories of the week include ...
If Britain were Greece... - BBC
If UK were like Greece, how bad would it be?
Sir Mervyn King accuses banks of profiting at taxpayers' expense by rigging lending - The Telegraph
The Governor of the Bank of England, Sir Mervyn King, has accused Britain's banks of trying to profit at the taxpayer's expense by rigging the Treasury's attempts to boost small business lending.
European Central Bank's cheap money has just turned toxic banks into zombie banks - The Telegraph
Last year a well-known senior former investment banker travelled around southern Europe's troubled banks offering them a simple trade.
Ten most complained about financial businesses: in pictures - The Telegraph
72,720 customer complaints about banks were lodged in six months.
What do credit rating agencies do? - BBC
What are credit rating agencies? Hugh Pym takes a look.
HSBC could face US criminal charges and 'significant' fines over 'money-laundering' - The Telegraph
HSBC has admitted for the first time it may face criminal charges that could see it hit with 'significant' penalties stemming from a US investigation into alleged money-laundering by Britain's biggest bank.
Even I get things dead wrong on occasion, admits Warren Buffett - The Independent
They call him the "Sage of Omaha", but Warren Buffett doesn't always get things right. Just ask Warren Buffett.
HSBC is rolling in money - and so is its chief Stuart Gulliver - The Telegraph
George Osborne laid it on thick over the weekend, declaring: "The British Government has run out of money."
Visa in partnership with Vodafone - Financial Times
Mobile wallet service to allow mobile phone customers to pay for goods and services using their handset
HMRC stops UK bank using 'abusive' schemes to avoid paying £2bn tax - The Telegraph
A UK-based bank has been stopped from using two 'highly-abusive' schemes that would have helped it avoid paying at least £2bn of tax.
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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...
