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Our biggest stories of the past week are ...
This week, the Finanser put together a three-part series about the world of change we live in.
Part One: Stop talking about mobile, it's not important
My latest presentation is apparently a polemic. That’s what my colleague said yesterday, when I said that my new presentation has three themes: Mobile is irrelevant; Money is meaningless; and Capitalism is dead. I wondered what she meant by polemic,...
Part Two: Money is meaningless, it’s the data that is important
I’ve blogged and presented about this subject many times before, so rather than repeating all that, here’s a summation with a new twist. Money is meaningless because we no longer deal in money. When we use the word money, most...
Part Three: Capitalism is dead, long live capitalism
Following on from my previous two polemics: Stop talking about mobile, it's not important; and Money is meaningless I’m now moving on to the final contentious point which is that capitalism is dead. We all knew that capitalism died in...
Change management means change management
Walking around Davos, we stumble across a small enclave of bank chiefs sharing breakfast. In this case, Dimon, Blankfein, Jenkins and Gulliver, the CEOs of JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Barclays and HSBC respectively. The conversation takes an interesting turn. Jenkins: “I...
From bye-bye banks to buy-buy banks
In 2008, we all thought banks were bye, bye, bye. Five years later, everyone is saying buy, buy, buy. Or Warren Buffet is anyway. In an interview with Bloomberg last week, Buffett said: “The banks will not get this country...
FinovateEurope 2013 is only 4 weeks away and readers of the Finanser can get a 10% discount on the ticket price by entering 'FSClub2013' as your discount code when registering.
The major general news stories of the past week include ...
President
of Iceland attacks Gordon Brown - The Telegraph
Former prime minister Gordon Brown has been severely criticised by the
President of Iceland over the country's treatment during the financial crisis.
Lloyds
Bank 'to axe 940 jobs and move 200 posts to India' - The Independent
Lloyds Bank is to axe more than 940 jobs, bringing job loss announcements to
1,300 in the past few days, according to unions.
Barclays
to move hundreds of back-office jobs to India - The Independent
Barclays is planning to offshore hundreds of roles at its troubled investment banking
unit to India in a bid to cut costs, The Independent has learnt.
European
transactions tax agreed - BBC
EU finance ministers give the green light for 11 eurozone members, including France
and Germany, to prepare a new tax on financial transactions.
Graduates
shun banking jobs - The Telegraph
The reputation of Britain's banks has been so tarnished by the economic crisis
and recent scandals that the industry is struggling to hire talented staff,
according to a report by the CBI and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Lloyds
apologises after Faster Payments System problems - The Telegraph
Lloyds Banking Group has apologised after thousands of customers were unable to
use the Faster Payments system.
RBS
speeds up investment arm split - The Telegraph
Royal Bank of Scotland is speeding up plans to split its investment bank as
part of a shake-up that is expected to see the exit of star investment banker
John Hourican.
Santander
mulls £2bn Clydesdale and Yorkshire bid - The Telegraph
Santander is reportedly mulling a £2bn bid for Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks
in another attempt to beef up its presence on the UK high street.
Goldman
bankers get rich betting on food prices as millions starve - The
Independent
Goldman Sachs made more than a quarter of a billion pounds last year by
speculating on food staples, reigniting the controversy over banks profiting
from the global food crisis.
Barclays
Wealth division 'out of control', says secret report - The Telegraph
Barclays has moved swiftly to part company with a senior executive after
investigators alleged that he shredded a highly critical analysis of the
maverick culture and bullying at the bank's one-time flagship business.
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Walking around Davos, we stumble across a small enclave of bank chiefs sharing breakfast. In this case, Demon, Blankfine, Jinkens and Gilliver, the CEOs of JPM, GSachs, Barcs and HBSC respectively.
Continue reading "Change management means change management" »
Our biggest stories of the past week are ...
Innovation has nothing to do with technology
Just been talking about innovation with a bunch of folks and found myself getting more and more wound up about the way people bandy the word around without knowing its meaning. It’s not that I’m some pedant or radical who…
RETAIL (????) Banking ... you must be joking!
I was at a conference yesterday where a leading economist talked about the global economic forecasts and specifically about the UK. When he got to the UK, he started talking about which sectors were expanding and succeeding the most, citing...
Try to destroy yourself … and then do it
One of the panellists at this week’s conference said that he employed twenty people whose sole duty was to find a way to destroy the business. I liked the idea of that. It is a strong and emotive statement. But...
Fifty Shades of Law: America, Banking and World War III
No, it’s not about flagellation and sado-masochism, although the current regulatory regime is not far off that. It’s also true that the regulatory regime is pretty mind-boggling these days, with fifty shades of interpretation of fifty shades of law. This...
Regulators are cutting their nose off to spite their face
In another conversation, I gained a new dimension as to how the regulatory and governmental influence is changing a bank’s outlook. I was talking with a very senior manager in a bank. This person heads up risk, audit and compliance....
The Wheatley review made ten recommendations for LIBOR reform. In response, the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has determined to remove five currencies from LIBOR publications. What’s the alternative?
UK launches faster payments mobile service in 2014
I don't normally place press releases on the blog, but this one's an important one so here it is pretty much unedited: Paying a friend or business on your mobile as easily as sending a text is set to become a mainstream option in spring 2014, when the Payments Council’s new mobile payments service launches.
FinovateEurope 2013 is only 4 weeks away and readers of the Finanser can get a 10% discount on the ticket price by entering 'FSClub2013' as your discount code when registering.
The major general news stories of the past week include ...
Barclays
bankers' Libor anonymity 'implausible' - The Telegraph
A move to block the naming of 42 Barclays staff named in documents linked to
the investigation into Libor-rigging has been branded "implausible"
and "over-stated".
A
Look at PayPal's 4Q2012 Financial Results - Payments News
PayPal's parent eBay announced financial results for 4Q2012. PayPal's active
account growth accelerated to 15% and ended the year with approximately 123
million registered accounts. PayPal added nearly 2 million accounts a month in
the fourth quarter, representing the company's fastest active account growth
rate in years. Net total payment
Banks
using Funding for Lending Scheme to 'rip off' customers - The Telegraph
Banks have been accused of using the Government's taxpayer-backed cheap credit
scheme to rip off customers by cutting rates on savings accounts more than on
new loans.
Lloyds
and RBS need billions more capital, BoE says - The Telegraph
Britain's bailed-out banks need billions of pounds more capital to shore up
their balance sheets and support the economy, senior Bank of England officials
have warned.
Paying
by text to launch Spring 2014 - BBC
A database pairing phone numbers to bank accounts will launch in the UK in
Spring 2014, allowing people to text money to each other.
Where
Social Networks, Payments and Banking Intersect - Payments News
Terri Bradford of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City has recently
published an Payments System Research Brief entitled, "Where Social
Networks, Payments and Banking Intersect". This article reviews the extent
of social network adoption, describes ways in which commerce and banking
services are arising, discusses payment methods, and highlights
British
banks admit poor lending decisions, says Lord Green - The Telegraph
Britain's largest banks privately admit they are in a "downward
spiral" of poor lending decisions and have a "computer says no"
attitude to small businesses, according to the former chairman of HSBC.
Sweden’s
back-to-the-future banker - Financial Times
Pär Boman, chief of Handelsbanken, tells Richard Milne how the bank’s
idiosyncratic model has helped protect it during financial crises
Lloyds
chief in line for £4m bonus - The Telegraph
Lloyds Banking Group's chief executive, Antonio Horta-Osorio, is set to receive
a multi-million-pound bonus this year despite a forecast loss at the
taxpayer-backed bank.
City
sackings soar as FSA cracks down - The Independent
Sackings and suspensions hit a five-year high in the City last year, as the
financial crisis continued to take its toll on employment amid a clampdown on
wrongdoing by the regulator.
If you like the Finanser, check out the books of the blog: the Complete Banker Series
The Financial Services Club is sponsored by:
For details of sponsorship email us.
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