Future

The Bright Future The year is 2030.  Europe grows from strength to strength, after the harmonisation agreements between the German Finance Minister, the European Central Bank and the European Parliament for the clearance for Quantitative Easing and bailout funds for Italy in 2018.  This was a turning point in the Union as the clear support…

I can remember a few years ago that the UK pound was almost at the level of being valued at $2.  Two dollars to the pound.  Amazing.  I brought a lot of American stuff that year.  Yesterday, I bought something and it was $1.30 to the pound.  Shoot.  The dinner for $100 that a few…

We spend much of our time berating the banks and beating them up, but it’s not always the case.  Every now and again, I like to write about the specific good that banks do.  For example, 5 of the top 10 Charitable Companies in the USA are banks: Wells Fargo (#3), Goldman Sachs (#4), JPMorgan…

I was piqued by Victor Matarranz’s [SEVP Head of Group Strategy and Chairman’s Office, Banco Santander] presentation at MoneyConf last week, mainly because he began by talking about Fintech 1.0 versus Fintech 2.0. Fintech 1.0 he defined as the emergence of peer-to-peer lenders and new payments companies between 2010 and 2014.  During this time everyone…

The UK has had a long weekend considering the consequences of the Brexit. Chris Skinner has had a long weekend considering the consequences on London, the banking industry, Fintech and more … and I have to say that I’m quietly positive.  I don’t think we’re going to see the meltdown the doomsayers are rumour mongering,…

Well, like all of you, I wake up this morning to find that the UK has decided to tell Europe to fork off.  You probably think I’m going to blog about what it all means and the implications for financial markets (I did that the other day and back in February).  Apparently the vote is…

I just discovered a really interesting legal view of the implications of the Brexit vote on the UK Financial Services sector.  It was in a magazine by Mayer Brown, a law firm, written by legal eagles Alexandria Carr, Mark Compton, David R. Sahr and Guy Wilkes and, as the vote takes place tomorrow as to whether Britain will Brexit…

I get all sorts of crappy press releases from public relations managers who are eager to see me prostitute my blog for them. Rarely would I post their stuff here unless it was seriously interesting or I feel very lazy or both. You can decide which category this fits into: first direct identifies the factors…

I caught sight of a report by Deloitte over the weekend that says the marketplace lenders like Zopa and Lending Club are no serious threat to banks.  This follows the report by Goldman Sachs a year ago, that said 20% of bank lending will move to these platforms over the next decade.  Who’s right and…

I chaired a really interesting debate yesterday between MP John Redwood and former MEP Baroness Sharon Bowles at the Association of UK Payments Institutions conference.  The discussion was should we stay or should we go, or the Brexit if you prefer. John Redwood has spent years as a Eurosceptic, standing against John Major in the…