Our biggest stories of the past week are ...
SWIFT, Visa, Mastercard and T2S?
As we enter the summer break, the Financial Services Club has two free offers for SWIFT Community members.
First, join our research into payments infrastructures and get a free copy of the results: click here to take part.
Second, come to our next meeting on Clearing & Settlement on 18th July in London from 2:00 pm, as it's free to attend: click here to register .
For more information on both of the above, click here.
Crowdfunding: a clear alternative to banks
I’ve talked a lot on this blog about P2P or social lending, mainly because I’ve been involved with Zopa since its launch and followed its siblings: Boober, Smava, Prosper, Lending Club, Ratesetter, Cashare, Loanio … Suffice to say there is...
Who’s going to be at your funeral?
A dreadful question I know, but one that comes up regularly in discussions about work/life balance and, more importantly, money/happiness debates. The question is at the heart of where you prioritise: family and community or work and wealth. It came...
Banks need a human approach to automation (take note RBS)
The riskiness of bank tech failure We all caught sight of RBS NatWest’s failure with their computer glitch over the past few weeks (Ulster Bank customers are still offline – that’s damning). If you didn’t, the gist of the story...
Yes, Prime Minister: Boring Liars
Every now and again I fall into the position of writing an episode of today’s issues set in a classic British sitcom. Monty Python and Yes Minister are the two comedies that set much of my outlook on life and...
Back to banking basics is nice, but not realistic
With all this talk of greed and corruption in the City (more on that later too), everyone is demanding a return to basic banking. I’ve heard this several times in the past week and over the past few years. Just...
Things worth reading: the European View (11)
This week's view from Europe, courtesy of Edith Rigler:
- UK is the country most often voting against EU Council initiatives – VoteWatch, 9thJuly 2012
- Feedback on results of Green paper on cards, internet and mobile payments published – European Commission, July 2012
- EU Commission proposes legislation to improve consumer protection in financial services – European Commission, 3 July 2012
- Profit potential of European retail banks on the upswing again - Bankmagazin, July 2012
- Responses to consultation on shadow banking now available – European Commission, July 2012
- Will the new duo bring dynamism to Deutsche Bank? - Manager Magazine, July 2012
The major general news stories of the past week include ...
HSBC to apologise for laundering errors - The Independent
HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, is to apologise to a US Senate hearing next week over less-than-effective anti-money laundering controls.
Bank's idea for tackling the financial crisis: six bicycles - The Telegraph
The Bank of England considered buying bicycles so that its officials could continue to move around in the event of a full-scale financial meltdown, the former City minister disclosed last night.
Lloyds could face £1.5bn claim over Libor - analysts - The Telegraph
Lloyds Banking Group could have to pay out more than £1bn over claims that it was involved in the manipulation of the Libor rate, according to City analysts.
Marcus Agius' TSC hearing: FSA accuses Barclays of being too 'aggressive' - The Telegraph
The FSA said Barclays frequently argued for regulatory approaches "which are at the aggressive end of interpretation", in a scathing letter to the bank, the Treasury Select Committee has revealed during bank chairman Marcus Agius' appearance.
Bank of England emails reveal depth of government fears over banks - The Telegraph
A series of emails from October 2008 - between Paul Tucker, Bob Diamond and Jeremy Heywood - were released yesterday.
'A cesspit': Libor scandal may be going on elsewhere - The Telegraph
Libor was a 'cesspit' and banks cannot be trusted to be honest in several other major markets, Bank of England warns.
Libor scandal: The vacant CEO seat at Barclays will be tough to fill - The Telegraph
In the wake of last week's resignations, Barclays is faced with an unexpected and unprecedented management vacuum.
Exclusive: Barclays insider lifts lid on bank's toxic culture - The Independent
A former senior Barclays employee today exposes the “culture of fear” that operated at the bank and claims Bob Diamond would have been aware of his traders' activities.
RBS fights to keep its Libor records secret - The Telegraph
Royal Bank of Scotland is fighting a court order requiring it to co-operate with an international criminal investigation into allegations its staff fixed a key banking lending rate.
The banks taking on the Big Five - The Telegraph
Ed Miliband wants the UK's high street banks to sell 1,000 branches to industry newcomers. Here, we look at the newcomers taking on the Big Five lenders.
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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...
