Our biggest stories of the past week are ...
Banks told to watch out for small competitors
I was going to write a long blog about SWIFT today, but it makes more sense to post tomorrow after seeing a report by journalist Richard Meadows, who summarised my latest presentation well.
Apparently, I made a slightly provocative comment during my keynote at PaymentsNZ. It was picked up and referenced by Richard Meadows in yesterday’s article: “[Skinner] said the coding behind virtual currency Bitcoin could also prove to be enormously transformational, potentially even replacing the SWIFTnetwork for inter-bank payments”.
When we have component-based banking, what happens to the regulator?
I often talk about component-based banking, but had a new realisation today. It’s one that is obvious when you say it but if you haven’t noticed or bothered, it’s a stunning thought and it’s already out there in the wild, running amok, and causing bankers headaches globally. What is it?
Merging the suits with the jeans: the new fintech formula
I’ve been spending more and more time thinking about this conundrum of the suits versus jeans brigade, or Bordeaux versus beer if you prefer. If you haven’t caught the drift, it’s all about fintech and how banks (suits) come to work together with tech (jeans). It’s something I’m seeing more and more and my latest two-penneth, for what it’s worth, is related to how we can integrate these two disparate groups.
What will happen when China implodes?
I just took part in a panel debate about the shape of the global economy. As the discussion progressed, it became gloomier and gloomier. We began talking about regulation, which I described as a reformation of the system.
The major general news stories of the past week include ...
Bank of England fires forex expert slammed for not reporting scandal worries - The Independent
The Bank of England yesterday sacked the man tasked with being its eyes and ears in the foreign exchange markets, on the same day that banks were slammed and fined billions of pounds.
Shame in the City: £2.6bn fine leaves London’s reputation in tatters - The Independent
In one of the darkest days in the histories of the City and Wall Street, six major banks were have been fined a total of £2.6bn by regulators. A seventh, Barclays, is still in talks over the size of its penalty.
Barclays excludes itself from FCA deal in bid to cut forex fine - The Independent
In a move that stunned the City, Barclays today opted out of the £2.1 billion foreign exchange market-rigging settlement by five rival banks.
Banks to be hit with billions in rigging fines - The Telegraph
Authorities in the UK and US to announce settlements with six banks on Wednesday over foreign exchange manipulation
Bank fined £2.75m over IT meltdown - BBC
Ulster Bank is fined 3.5m euros (£2.75m) over a 2012 IT meltdown which left customers without access to their accounts.
'Too big to fail' bank rules unveiled - BBC
New global rules to prevent banks that are "too big to fail" from being bailed out by taxpayers have been announced.
Bail-outs are over, Carney to tell banks - The Telegraph
The Bank of England Governor will declare that the world's financial institutions are no longer "too big to fail"
Metro Bank is still travelling hopefully to arrive in the FTSE 100 - The Telegraph
Challenging the 'big four' high street lenders is a slower process than its founder imagined - but already deposits have hit £2.3bn
Banks hire staff to run digital services and meet new rules - The Independent
City hiring has surged by 46 per cent as banks pour money into the digital revolution, it has been claimed.
German reunification shows what wealth transfer can achieve - The Independent
It was the great symbolic moment, 25 years ago, in that series of events that led not just to a reunified Germany but to the European Union we have today. Germany and the rest of eastern Europe took very different paths in their transformation from command economies to market ones.
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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...
