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Shaping the future of finance

The Finanser’s Week: 13th October – 19th October 2014

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Our biggest stories of the past week are ...

My head is in the clouds

Like a few other speakers and writers I get around a little and, this week, I had the opportunity to keynote at Dreamforce in San Francisco.  Now, many of you may not have heard of or experienced Dreamforce, so I’m quickly going to share the experience with you now.

You might believe you can change the system (but it's far more likely the system will change you)

I got into a great discussion yesterday about the wild, Wild West of cryptocurrencies and bitcoin.  The dialogue was with a new bright-eyed MBA graduate, who believes this is the future.  I felt pretty bad to be the old Gandalfian cynic, who saw opportunities here but poo-poohed the notion that you could have a currency without government. 

Banks are slumbering (please wake up)

I just attended the EFMA Marketing Summit in Barcelona, and used my usual slide that talks about social: “you need to be social, because that’s where the customer is”.  I have said that a lot for the past 18 months or so, and the point I make is that social media is NOT a marketing thing.  It is a customer thing.

Wifi in the Jungle? How the Internet Reaches the World's Most Remote Regions

In a special guest post from Luis Alvarez, CEO of BT Global Services (originally published in the Huffington Post) we explore the radical change that WiFi and mobile services have introduced to the world or, in this case, the Amazon.

The FSClub: Leading Fintech in Scotland (and twitter too!)

In the third Financial Services Club meeting last week (the other two took place in London and Warsaw), we had a conference in Edinburgh: Fintech2014, in partnership with Scot-Tech.

 

The major general news stories of the past week include ...

UK money laundering: How they get away with it - The Independent
Schools and universities are small, unwitting elements of a growing industry of “gatekeepers” to the UK for foreign money launderers.

The great British money launderette: At least 19 UK firms under investigation for alleged conspiracy to make $20bn of dirty money seem legitimate - The Independent
Front companies in the UK are at the heart of an investigation into one of Europe’s biggest money-laundering operations, allegedly forming part of a conspiracy to make $20bn (£12.5bn) of dirty money look legitimate. The funds are believed to have come from major criminals and corrupt officials around the world

Government sells £2.7bn of 'bad bank' mortgages to JP Morgan - The Telegraph
UK Asset Resolution disposes of historic Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley loans

'I lost £28,000 mortgage deposit': How to get back money sent to the wrong bank account - The Telegraph
Don't rely on the banks as they may not recover your money. One man's £28,000 sort code slip-up serves a valuable lesson

Citi pulls out of consumer banking in 11 countries, profit jumps - Reuters
(Reuters) - Citigroup Inc said it was pulling out of consumer banking in 11 markets, including Japan and Egypt, as the U.S. bank with the biggest international business looks to cut persistently high costs.

Online wealth managers threaten banks - Financial Times
Start-ups offer expertise or financial advice, often at a fraction of the cost of private banks

Millions 'vulnerable' to bank fraud - BBC
The UK's High Street banks are warning that millions of account holders are vulnerable to fraud - online or over the phone.

Colin Fan: Deutsche’s viral banker - Financial Times
The Deutsche investment banking co-head who lost patience with misbehaving traders talks reform

Deutsche clampdown on bad behavior prompts exodus of traders: FT - Reuters
(Reuters) - Senior bankers at Deutsche Bank AG are leaving the bank amid a crackdown on bad behavior by traders, as the bank undergoes a probe by global regulators into allegations of attempts to rig markets, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

Carney tells bankers to embrace new rules or quit - The Telegraph
Governor of the Bank of England says top executives should be more responsible

 

If you like the Finanser,  check out our latest book: Digital Bank

 

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Chris Skinner Author Avatar

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...

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