Sir David King (see end of blog for bio) provided a short summary at the end of the two day Re|Source 2012 conference. It provided a good summary of all the issues these global leaders are facing, and provides some pointers towards the role of the financial community. First, there is a population explosion. The…
As recently mentioned, I attended the Re|source 2012 conference at Oxford University last week. The meeting took place in the historic School of Examinations building … … and was a meeting of the great and the good to discuss how to build a sustainable world. The conference had many of the leaders from politics and…
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 up again during the last few weeks of scandal in the City, and the conversation…
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 yesterday, over lunch, my colleague was recalling the days when you needed credit from the…
We had a great discussion at the Financial Services Club Central & Eastern Europe (FSClub CEE) this week. Now in its fourth year of operation, the Club meets regularly at the residence of the British Ambassador in Vienna, Austria (see postnote if you want a laugh). The theme of the meeting was: “the future of…
We recently entertained Laurens Vis, Managing Director of KAS Bank London, to address the Financial Services Club. Here’s a manuscript of his speech which, to say the least, has some very key messages for the future of the Eurozone: “The Eurozone – the road to nowhere?” Introduction ‘The European Union or the Tragedy of the…
In case you didn’t see it, Wired magazine ran an article about Jack Dorsey and Square this month. Throughout the article, they compare Jack Dorsey to Steve Jobs and Square with Apple. In a long opening – the first page is just about pouring tea! – they finally get to the crunch so here’s my shorter,…
I’ve already given some reflections on last week’s innotribe meeting in my write ups of Metro Bank and Fidor Bank. Now, for a more general write-up, I’ve taken the inputs of Kosta Peric, the SWIFT innovation group leader who runs innotribe; the innotribe start-up details; and the input of participating company Allevo; to put together my own summary…
I’ve been struck by many nuances of culture and creed lately. There are many examples, but it all comes down to dealing with the customer as a unique entity, not some mass market. For example, why does Spain have so many bank branches? Spain has around 43,000 bank branches, about half as many as the…
