The Financial Services Club's Blog

The Finanser's Week: 19th July - 25th July 2010

The biggest news stories of the week include ...

Economy set for 'triple whammy', admits Bank chief - The Independent

The British economy faces a triple whammy of higher inflation, lower growth and rising unemployment, according to one of the Bank of England's most senior policy makers. Living standards over the next few years will rise only "minimally".

Bond chaos forecast as Wall Street reform restricts use of credit ratings - The Telegraph

Widespread chaos has been predicted in the bond markets as the world's three largest ratings agencies said their ratings could not be used in any marketing material.

Santander considers £3bn UK listing, report - The Telegraph

Santander is thought to be considering a flotation of its UK banking operations in London in move that could raise up to £3bn.

British banks face £390bn 'funding gap' - The Telegraph

UK banks face a funding crunch next year as they attempt to refinance debt amounting to double the amount they raised on average in credit boom.

JP Morgan bases executives in New York in protest over UK financial regulations - The Telegraph

US bank's decision not to locate the new international business chief in London driven by pessimistic views on UK regulation.

Fraud reaches record levels in UK - BBC

One of the world's biggest accountancy firms says fraud has hit a record of £1bn in the first six months of the year.

I should cocoa: Trader takes big chunk of market - BBC

Investor Anthony Ward takes a large piece of the world's cocoa market after buying 240,000 tonnes of cocoa beans, reports suggest.

Markets braced for turmoil after IMF and EU withdraw £17bn Hungary financing deal - The Telegraph

European equity and credit markets are set for a volatile day of trading after the IMF and the EU withdrew a €20bn financing deal for Hungary.

Cable: Banks are ripping us off - BBC

The business secretary tells BBC Panorama that Britain's banks are not giving private customers and small businesses a fair deal.

JP Morgan UK future at risk - The Telegraph

Bank now sees expansion in Asia not London as a priority, as the £1.5bn Canary Wharf development is under threat.

And our biggest stories of the week are ...

After the PSD and SEPA, has anything changed?

Last year, we performed a major survey in anticipation of the implementation of the PSD and SEPA Direct Debits, to see how the world viewed these areas.This year, we're doing it again.  Click here to take survey

You're all individuals, you're all different

What a funny old week it’s been. Having blogged a lot about identity in the past, the week began with two peak time TV viewing programs about identity on Monday: Who do you think you are? on the BBC and Identity on ITV.  These programs are all about finding out about you and then keeping your you-ness your own.

The Financial Services Club's Program, Autumn/Winter 2010 (draft)

For those who are interested, we have just put together our draft program for the London Financial Services Club Autumn/Winter Season.  The dates and details are as follows ...

Why banks have no competition

I had a couple of really interesting dialogues with bankers yesterday who expressed their frustrations with the UK regulatory system, the FSA, licensing and operations. Their basic issue is that the regulatory system makes it virtually impossible to launch a new bank.

Revising MiFID and RegNMS for HFT

Gawd, I hate acronymns and look at that! Three in one blog entry title!!!  Anyways, for equities guys, this will grab their attention.  It's all to do with trading in European and American stocks and shares using High Frequency Trading (HFT) systems, and the regulations therein with EU MiFID rules applying over here and USA RegNMS rules applying over there.

The first Metro Bank marketing brochure

I've talked a lot about Metro Bank already, and will probably talk a lot more about them as they are the first brand new spanking retail bank to launch in Britain since Charles Dickens popped his clogs. Well, almost. But then I received their first marketing brochure the other day ...

Rethinking customer experiences and the future ATM

Just got a really interesting survey from Deloitte looking at the future of financial services based upon a survey of 200 industry execs.  Most of the banks say that it is their relationship with customers that has been hit hardest by this crisis, and so their #1 focus is to rebuild relationships by focusing upon improving the customer experience.

 

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The Finanser's Week: 12th July - 18th July 2010

The biggest news stories of the week include ...

Tycoon given three-year ban from City - The Telegraph
Brian Myerson to take case to human rights court after Takeover Panel hands down its toughest sanction.

EU victory for George Osborne - The Telegraph
The City is in line for a major boost after European finance ministers agreed to position the new banking super-regulator in London, rather than Frankfurt.

New banks will struggle to compete, says RBS chief - The Independent
The Royal Bank of Scotland's chief executive, Stephen Hester, dismissed the chances of a new generation of smaller banks that are poised to enter the market against big banks like his.

Vince Cable backs break-up of big banks - The Times
Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, has given official backing to recommendations that call for investment banks to be broken up.

Chinese rating agency strips Western nations of AAA status - The Telegraph
China's leading credit rating agency has stripped the US, UK, Germany and France of their AAA ratings, accusing Anglo-Saxon rivals of ideological bias.

Former Anglo Irish Bank chief declared bankrupt - The Guardian
The former head of Anglo Irish Bank, Sean FitzPatrick, was officially declared bankrupt today.

Bankers' lack of humility has ushered in a new era of intervention - The Telegraph
Restraint. The meaning of the word is well understood by you and me. It's understood by private sector workers and, increasingly, public sector workers. But not, it seems, in the City.

HSBC chief warns over plans to break up banks - The Telegraph
The HSBC's chairman, Stephen Green, has revealed serious concerns about the future strength of the economically vital banking sector which is under threat from a wave of new regulations

And our biggest stories of the week are ...

Goldman Sachs and the Great Escape

I spent most of Friday thinking about the news of Goldman Sachs record $550 million fine from the SEC (here's the detail of what they were accused of).  It could be thought of as a big deal ...... but it’s not. It's irrelevant.

Tesco Bank's CEO talks tech

Tesco Bank chose Fiserv as their supplier and their PR firm sent me a video of Benny Higgins - he who was formerly one of Andy Hornby's executive team at HBOS - the new CEO of Tesco Bank talking about why he chose them.

EU's bank stress tests creating more bank stress

It turns out that 91 European banks are to be put through a ‘stress test’ to see how well or badly they will cope with a shock to the system. The stress test itself was a little unclear until late last week, when the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) detailed what would happen. As a result, a lot of folks think it’s a fudge, and the intention of creating more confidence in the EU’s banking system may actually have achieved the opposite.

The most influential people in finance

Financial News has just announced their 2010 list of the most influential people in finance. Interesting list.

More Banking Statistics: Algo and High Frequency Trading

Yet another blog posting on stats, and this one was inspired by Wikipedia of all places. I was looking for some stats on High Frequency (HFT) and Algorithmic trading, and stumbled across a great range of facts and figures.  For example, the markets are now seeing up to ten million trade movements PER SECOND in the USA.

More Banking Statistics: Capital Markets

A final posting on bank stats, but this time focused upon capital markets. According to the report from TheCityUK (which I cited a couple of times last week): Companies raised £83 billion on the London Stock Exchange in 2009, including...

World Cup in Numbers

I haven't said much about the World Cup on the Blog, as it's not really about banking, but I was intrigued to see this list of numbers...

 

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The Finanser's Week: 5th July - 11th July 2010

The biggest news stories of the week include ...

• Pan-Euro regulatory body is imminent - Financial Times
• MEPs approve tough new curbs on the City's bonus culture - The Independent
• European regulators lists 91 banks for stress tests - The Telegraph
• US to access Europeans' bank data - BBC

And our biggest stories of the week are ...

UK Bank Stats: a fascinating portrait of life

I just got a copy of the BBA’s Annual Abstract of Banking Statistics.  Fascinating stuff, and the data shows a real insight into the way we are living our lives.  For example, every ten minutes 35,000 people use the internet to check their bank account balance or statement on-line ...

More UK banking stats

Following on from yesterday's number - UK Bank Stats: a fascinating portrait of life -I was sent another report today from TheCityUK, the trade body that promotes the interests of the City of London.There’s loads of numbers in this document that are useful, which I will post in a few separate blog entries starting with the payments and retail banking figures.

More Banking Statistics: Home Ownership

Following on from the comments on UK Bank Stats from the BBA, and the report from TheCityUK, here's a few more statistics focused upon home ownership.

The World's Top 20 Banks 1994-2010

I’ve just received this month’s Banker magazine which details the Top 1000 Banks of the World, with Bank of America coming in at Number One and JP Morgan Chase at Number Two.  Using my own data bank - old Banker magazines - I quickly took a snapshot of a few useful year’s to see how things have changed in the Top 20 listing between 1994 and 2010, with a few surprising conclusions.

Think the Unthinkable: ING analyse Eurozone collapse

Many interesting, weird and wonderful things drop into my inbox.  Take yesterday where I was sent: a copy of the BBA’s Annual Abstract of Banking Statistics; a note from FatBoy Slim, who is an England groupie at the World Cup, and a solution for the issues Apple iPhone4 users are having with signal loss.  I am also getting lots of emails from bank economists with the title generally being: THINK THE UNTHINKABLE.   The one that really grabbed my attention was from ING, looking at what will happen if the Eurozone collapses.

High frequency trading in jeopardy thanks to flash crash

No one could have missed the markets flash drop on 6th May, when US markets fell into a trillion dollar freefall. The result is that the SEC is bringing in rules that will stop a freefall by freezing any equity whose price moves more than 10 per cent in any five minute period. This may deal with the issue but does it deal with the cause?  I don't think so.

Should governments have access to SWIFT messages?

For some time now, I’ve been meaning to blog about the big issue bubbling away over access to SWIFT messages being demanded by the US authorities for anti-terrorism purposes and blocked by the European Parliament over privacy concerns.  The whole thing is best illustrated by this recording of a debate between Frank Gaffney, a lobbyist for US Security, and Baroness Sarah Ludford, MEP, on the BBC’s Radio 4 programme “The World This Weekend”.

 

 

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The Finanser's Week: 28th June - 4th July 2010

The biggest news stories of the week include ...

• Peter Sands: a banking blueprint for change - The Telegraph
• G20 compromises on plans for tougher banking rules - The Independent
• Major US financial reform agreed - BBC
• Dodd-Frank bill is no Glass-Steagall - Financial Times
• EU agrees bank bonus curbs - BBC
• What does the new EU regulation mean for bankers' pay: a Q&A - The Telegraph
• Europe's banks are still on 'life support', BIS warns - The Telegraph
• EU banks borrow less than feared - BBC
• Goldman denies its collateral demands led to collapse of insurance giant AIG - The Independent
• 'Drunken' oil trader is banned for five years - The Independent

And our biggest stories of the week are ...

Monthly MiFID MTF Monitor: June 2010

We are pleased to provide our sixth month of monitoring the MTF performances in European Equities trading, in partnership with Thomson Reuters Equity Market Share Reporter (EMSR). 

Who's afraid of HFT, HFT, HFT?

At the conference in Santander, I was particularly taken with a presentation by Jorge Yzaguirre from the Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME).  Jorge presented a detailed review of the American flash crash on May 6th where share prices crahsed and soared at around 2:48 p.m.  I’ve read lots of explanations of the crash, but this was the first time I’ve seen someone present what happened.

The ginger whingers

ANZ in Australia has been subjected to an assault over their latest ads being anti-bank staff. The ads use Gingis Khan Barbara as a role model of bank service. Having watched the ads four or five times now, they're just very funny. 

The big Spanish Question

Everyone seems to be so consumed with the World Cup, they haven't noticed that Spain is about to destroy the Eurozone. Having spent the last week in Spain, there are good arguments for and against this view.

Why Spanish banks are risky

Walking around Santander, I was surprised to find a bank that not only encouraged taking massive risks but focused upon locations that enabled you to do this. The bank in question was Santander ... in Santander. What are they up to?

The oldest and rarest English coin

Last week an auction took place of rare coins.  In the auction, one coin stood out.  It dates back to around 630 A.D. (about the time England last won a World Cup) and is the first coin clearly minted in the name of an English King.  The auctioneers thought the coin was worth about £7,000 ($10,000), but it sold for three times that figure.

Microsoft's latest wheeze: let's blow up the network!

I got a critical update automatically downloaded to my PC this week by Microsoft's never-ending update factory.  A few days later, I'm on the road using the PC and it's unable to get wifi access.  Yep, you guessed it, Microsoft's blown up the network! 

 

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The Finanser's Week: 21st June - 27th June 2010

The biggest news stories of the week include ...

• Judge rebukes Barclays chief at Lehman hearing - The Independent
• Santander sole bidder for the UK branches EU told RBS to sell - The Telegraph
• Goldman Sachs 'will be hit hardest' by regulation - The Telegraph
• Goldman Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein 'advised to go on Oprah' - The Telegraph
• Battered eurozone left vulnerable to crisis, warns Fitch - The Telegraph
• Ben Bernanke needs fresh monetary blitz as US recovery falters - The Telegraph

And our biggest stories of the week are ...

The credit crisis was NOT a Black Swan event (Part Two)

Ten years ago in the US of A, Sandy Weill put great pressure on Bill Clinton's office to repeal the Glass-Steagall Act with some success.  At the time, Senator Byron Dorgan said this would lead to major bank failures and taxpayer bailouts.  Boy, how right he was. 

BIS report French and German banks $1tn exposure

French and German banks have almost $1 trillion exposure to Southern European economies according to a Bank of International Settlements (BIS) report released last Monday. Read this post to download the BIS report and checkout Europe's fragile economy.

Bank branches and the next gen mobile

Spent a lot of time yesterday talking with folks about the future of money, payments and banking.  The conversation got interesting in two particular areas: branches and mobile services.  And suprisingly, the two areas reflect complementary strategies reflecting whether the bank provider is in an emerging or developed economy.

Why is there no global mobile remittance service?

We had a really interesting free-ranging conversation about remittances and new services for remittances yesterday.  Oh yes, I should say that I’m at a remittances conference so that’s the reason why.The discussion was about the NEXT BIG THING in money transfer ... or rather whether and if there is a NEXT BIG THING in money transfer. To be honest, there’s not.There’s just mobile.

A SWIFT note on remittances

One solution for the underbanked discussed in some depth is SWIFT’s remittance services for banks. It is not surprising we discussed this in depth, as SWIFT are the premier conference sponsor.  The service focuses upon those banks that are trying to build bilateral services or using open correspondent banking services.

Why banks should avoid the remittance markets

Great conversations continue in the remittances / money transfer space, with a chat with the global transaction services folks from a major bank.  This bank has a dilemma: are they in the remittances space or are they not?  They really want to be in this space but are worried about risk exposures, particularly reputational risk.  My recommendation: don't bother.

With perfect foresight, where would you invest?

I recently blogged a lot about 10,000 year thinking, the Long Now and how it relates to financial services.  We followed this up with a discussion of the Long Now of Finance at the FSClub the other day and it got me thinking that if we had perfect foresight, where would we invest?

The post-holiday reality blues

So, it’s just a couple of days since returning to work and I’m already fed up. My PC’s decided not to load Adobe apps. Then my iPhone fell on the floor and broke, the crown on my tooth fell out, my credit card has been defrauded and I’m no longer on holiday.  And then, to cap it all off, the new UK Chancellor George Osbourne tells us that UK, France and Germany are all introducing a bank levy.  So ... to cheer me up ... I thought I’d post a couple of holiday photos on the blog.

 

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The Finanser's Fortnight: 7th June - 20th June 2010

Just been on holiday for two weeks - did you miss me?

If you answered yes, you've obviously not noticed that I've still been blogging for the last two weeks. 

Here are a few highlights from the holiday blog:

How interest bearing instruments were invented

I've talked many times about the Ancient Sumerians creating money for sex, but they also created money for debt.  Here's how it worked.

5000 years of risk ... and we still can't get it right

The ancient Sumerians invented the concept of interest on borrowing 5,000 years ago.  It led to the practice of leverage and risk back then too.  Nothing that complicated ... just something that caused wars.

The credit crisis was NOT a Black Swan event

One of my holiday books is Traders, Guns and Money, Knowns and Unknowns in the Dazzling World of Derivatives , by Satyajit Das. It was written in February 2006 - two and a half years before the September 2008 implosion of Lehman Brothers - and yet clearly states why the markets will implode.  I wonder why no-one listened?

30 great quotes about money

I love finding jokes and quotes, so here’s thirty of my favourite funny quotes about money, finance and banking such as: "money can’t buy you happiness but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery", Spike Milligan.

Can pyschology explain our fixation with money?

Just found a psychology blog and thought I would look up what articles they have on the psychology of money, one of our favourite subjects.  Interesting headlines include that fact that: people will spend more money when they feel down, but are often unaware of it and that we prefer to pay more for a product as it makes us think it’s better quality.

Securities in an insecure world

In an impressive speech back in 1963, a week before JFK was assassinated, Benjamin Graham – the first proponent of value investing – gave a speech in San Francisco.  In the first half of the speech, he outlines the challenges of market fluctuations and the fact that people are irrational, e.g. buying shares in good times and then claiming the same shares are bad in poor times.  In the second part, he delves deep into investment policies. His words are worth reposting fifty years later, as it’s still as true today as it was in 1963.

The Finanser's Week: 31st May - 6th June 2010

The biggest news stories of the week include ...

• Economic confidence sags across indebted eurozone - The Independent
• Bank of England made £8bn profit from quantitative easing fund - The Telegraph
• France’s AAA rating ‘could be a stretch’ - The Times
• JP Morgan Cazenove: UK must sell bailed-out banks to save AAA rating - The Telegraph
• JP Morgan hit with largest fine in FSA's history - The Telegraph
• Visa in clash over China payments - Financial Times
• Warren Buffett says rating agencies should take 'meat axe' to their business model - The Telegraph
• Hedge funds 'pose serious risk to investors and financial system' - The Telegraph

And our biggest stories of the week are ...

Who owes what to whom?

After the downgrade of Greece led to the Greek crisis and the Germans worried about bailing them out, the crisis continues with the downgrade of Spain at the end of last week by Fitch.  Although all is not rosey in the garden of Europe, what has proven to be really intriguing is who owes what to whom.  I was not clear on this picture until a data visualisation firm, Quantum4d, sent me a chart which clearly shows who has exposure to Greece and Spain.

The post-Facebook webolution: checking in

As usual, some good stuff in Wired Magazine this month. One article stood out for me in particular, which is about the rivalry between Foursquare and Gowalla. I’d heard of Foursquare but not much about Gowallla, and now see the next rise of web usage in more clarity.

The name is Skinner ... Jason Skinner

There are so many discussions around identity with several here on the blog, other blogs dedicated to the subject and even a film about it. But could you completely lose or change your identity? Apparently yes, and it's not as difficult as some would think ....

BPO: a very specialised business

I spent the day yesterday discussing BPO, Business Process Outsourcing, an area I haven’t touched on for a while. BPO is a logical extension of Business Process Re-engineering, Business Process Improvement and Business Transformation and, because of the specialisation in process, BPO is a really fragmented market.  What are the market dynamics and rationale for such contracts in banks?

Who are the top financial marketers?

Marketing Magazine has published its annual list of the 100 most powerful marketers in Britain. The list is filled with eminent names from fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) such as Phil Thomas at Reckitt Benckiser – the firm that sells Colgate, Cillit Bang and Dettol – to Jill McDonald of McDonalds (is that just coincidence?).  Nine of the top 100 are in financial services, with an interesting choice of who's who.

Monthly MiFID MTF Monitor: May 2010

We are pleased to provide our fifth month of monitoring the MTF performances in European Equities trading, in partnership with Thomson Reuters Equity Market Share Reporter (EMSR).

 

 

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The Finanser's Week: 24th May - 30th May 2010

The biggest news stories of the week include ...

• Buffett subpoenaed by crisis inquiry panel - Financial Times
• Lehman sues JP Morgan - BBC
• IBM acquires Sterling Commerce for $1.4 billion - The Times
• EU bank tax proposals are unveiled - The Independent
• Ackermann defends market's role in eurozone crisis - Financial Times
• Everything you always wanted to know about the euro – but were afraid to ask - The Independent
• Double-dip fears over worldwide credit stress - The Telegraph
• Banks reveal extent of 'dark pool' trading - The Independent
• Italian police eye £4.8bn in HSBC client accounts as part of tax evasion case - The Telegraph

And our biggest stories of the week are ...

What happens to SEPA and Chi-X if the euro fails?

Last week’s surprising comments from German Chancellor Angela Merkel that “the euro is in danger” and “if the euro fails, Europe fails” sent shudders across the world’s markets. As I talk to German colleagues, they refer to Greece as the Golden Fleece and everyone knows the Union and the euro are under the most intense strain ever. So what happens if Europe does fall apart and the euro fails and, specifically, what would it mean for SEPA?

Rating agencies and Greece: who's next?

I picked up a copy of Standard &Poor’s publication Credit Week this week and guess what? Page 38 explains and defends the reasons for the Greek downgrade in a one-page article by David T. Beers. It makes for fascinating reading, particularly in light of the fact that the credit rating agencies will come under a new EU regulatory mandate from 1st January 2011. Will Michel Barnier outlaw credit rating agencies from doing another Greek downgrade in the future, I wonder.

When's the next financial crisis and what will cause it?

I spent the morning with a group of futurists debating the long-term outlook for financial markets. The key question I kept asking myself during the conversation is: when will the next financial crisis take place, what will cause it and is it predictable? And yes, we did come up with some ideas ...

Bank histories reflecting our histories

After looking at the future of banking yesterday, it’s time to look at the history of banking today. Not in depth, that would be dull, but I recently visited the archives of HSBC that go back to the origins of the bank in China and beyond. Here are a few of their very human stories ...

It's not personal, just business

I went to see my bank manager this week to discuss a small irritation in the business accounts. The irritation is that the branch I deal with is for personal customers only, and yet I'm both a personal and business customer and don't expect to have to visit two different bank branches of the same bank for my services.

Sir Win Bischoff on Banking Reform

Another fun evening at the Financial Services Club the other day with Sir Win Bischoff, Chairman of Lloyds Banking Group. We all wanted to know what was happening with Lloyds Banking Group, I’m sure, but the evening was under Chatham House rules so none of that is bloggable. What I will say is that he gave a very good insight into where the industry has come from and is going.

Need money fast?

It's interesting to see the rise in high interest, short term loan sites.  I blogged about Wonga last year, and now there's Quick Quid.  Here's their advert ...

 

 

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The Finanser's Week: 17th May - 23rd May 2010

The biggest news stories of the week include ...

• Inventor of the cash machine dies - BBC
• JP Morgan: England to win World Cup - The Telegraph
• Coalition outlines bank reforms - BBC
• Mayor of London Boris Johnson calls coalition policy of attacking banks 'nuts' - The Telegraph
• Euro in danger: Germans trigger panic over future of single currency - The Times
• Reforms to cost European banks £208bn in lost profit - The Telegraph
• Dow crash: broker blamed - The Times
• Historic Wall Street overhaul passed by US Senate - The Times
• Bankers trade their BlackBerrys for iPhones - The Times

And our biggest stories of the week are ...

The future of banking regulation

The City of London released an interesting document yesterday on the future of regulation of banking. They talk about liquidity, leverage, capital and risk liberally, and state that the future regulatory regime must not clamp down on capital reserves in banking so hard that the banks are unable to lubricate the global economy.  What I found interesting is that there are quite a few contradictions in the 77 page report although, such as a proposal for global regulations and then they say that global regulations will not work.

Challenges and Solutions for Banking UK

Another two interesting documents were released on Friday.  The first is an official House of Commons Library publication: Key Issues for the New Parliament 2010.  the new coalition Conservacrats published their document: The Coalition programme for government.  Both documents place banking reform as a priority with bonuses, splitting retail and investment banking and taxing banks high on the agenda.

The euro is in danger

After Angela Merkel's comments about the "euro is in danger", I was going to write a long and in-depth review of the state of the euro ... but I was beaten to it by Chris Blackhurst's column in the evening standard.

Managing liquidity risk in a changed and global world

I received an interesting white paper the other day from Wim Raymaekers, Head of Banking Market at SWIFT on Liquidity Risk. Here’s the Executive Summary.

2010's most innovative financial firms

Finovate took place in San Francisco last week. It is definitely the one place you will find the NEXT generation of banking with over thirty-six firms presenting to a record audience of 500 industry executives. Which four firms were voted 'Best in Show' to be cited the most innovative financial firms 2010?

Can Tesco and Virgin hack it as banks?

I was having a conversation today with a firm considering entering banking in the UK. They would be an unexpected player, as their brand is seen to be trusted but totally unrelated to financial services. So I sent them this article that details how non-banks could become banks and the challenges Tesco and Virgin have faced.

Numbers: State Bank of India

I love talking to Chinese and Indian banks, just by the sheer drama of hearing their numbers.  For example, I talked with State Bank of India this week who have:

• 150 million customers
• 11 million High Net Worth customers who earn >US$10,000 per month
• 3.5 million internet banking users

The original iPad, 1990

Nothing to do with banking, but a wander down memory lane.  Twenty years ago I demonstrated a prototype of what you would call the very first iPad ... a 386 Intel processing Table PC!

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The Finanser's Week: 10th May - 16th May 2010

The biggest news stories of the week include ...

• S&P puts LCH.Clearnet rating 'on creditwatch' - Financial Times
• Goldman to do deal with US regulator over Abacus affair - The Independent
• Morgan Stanley shares slide on reports of SEC investigation - The Telegraph
• Standard Chartered considers return to South Africa with majority stake in Nedbank - The Times
• ICBC edges closer to £6bn equity offer - The Telegraph
• City watchdog FSA to survive in shock coalition compromise - The Telegraph
• EU agrees euro stability package - BBC
• 'No one cause' for US share dive - BBC
• US banks may have 'misled ratings agencies' - The Telegraph
• Exemption sought to OTC derivatives rules - Financial Times
• Banks receive two million complaints in six months - The Independent

And our biggest stories of the week are ...

China will be world's largest economy by 2035

Robert Prior-Wandesforde, Senior Asia Economist with HSBC, gave the opening speech: Asia - aren’t you glad to be here? Here are my brief notes and note the conclusion: China will outstrip the USA by 2035 (or sooner) to become the world's largest economy.

Are Asian corporates the same or different?

After writing earlier this week about the bullish views of HSBC on China and Asia as a whole, I was interested to hear the views of Damian Glendinning and David Blair. Damian Glendinning is Vice President & Treasurer with Lenovo and David Blair is Treasurer with Huawei, the Chinese telecoms firm.  Both guys had previously held senior jobs at Western firms and so, if anybody can explain the world of China, it’s these guys.

How the mobile internet will revolutionise Banking

Inspired by three events this week, I focused on why financial iPhone (and iPad) apps are revolutionary for banking now and, more importantly, how the mobile internet will change banking in the future.  Unsurprisingly, I got shot down in flames for talking bollards. Regardless, here are the events, the logic, the proposal and why it got shot down ... and why the nay-sayers are wrong.

Banking infrastructure: Rome or Vegas?

In a dialogue the other day about payments infrastructures, a colleague stated that it was over-egging the case to say that all the old infrastructures needed to be destroyed and rebuilt.   They likened it more to a City that has been built over time.  You don’t destroy the City because it has old buildings. You just build anew where needed, renovate where necessary, repair if required and destroy only if you have to.  Now I’m of a slightly different world as my Banking City should be more like Las Vegas than Rome.

A new Zopa-style P2P Payments system

With the general frustration folks appear to have with bank fees - not sure why as banking has to cost something, doesn't it? - I just got wind of the new Currency Exchange for P2P transactions. It's like Zopa, but for foreign exchange.

Accenture's marketing team strikes again

After Tiger Wood’s disastrous PR with golf clubs wrapped around teeth, Accenture had to rapidly come up with a new campaign to reignite their brand So I arrive at Heathrow this morning and here it is.  Brilliant. Inspired. Bodacious. Not.

This year's best cartoons ...

I'm an irregular reader of Prospect Magazine, a UK publication that focuses on political and economic essays on current affairs.  One of the best things in the mag is its A-list cartoonists.  As a monthly they pick only the best and funniest, and this month's really had me chuckling.

So not PC but ...

This is so politically incorrect that I almost didn't post it ... but then I did to show how cultures are different and sensitivities are not the same.  As I left Singapore, I saw this and felt quite offended.

Ozzies debate the root of all evil

Only in Melbourne could they come up with the idea of getting six comedians to debate whether money is the root of all evil ... but it's very funny.

 

 

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The Finanser's Week: 3rd May - 9th May 2010

The biggest news stories of the week include ...

• Goldman 'facing criminal inquiry' - BBC
• Goldman agrees to pay fine over claims it broke short selling rules - The Independent
• Goldman faces shareholder action - BBC
• Bear Stearns: ‘A big, fat bank goose about to be eaten alive’ - The Times
• In the Spotlight: Grübel in the pink as UBS shows strong signs of recovery - The Independent
• Salaries are astonishingly high, says RBS chairman - The Independent
• Jayne-Anne Gadhia, CEO Virgin Money - The Times
• I would not want job of tackling British debt, says Buffett - The Independent
• Apple iPad tops one million sales in 28 days - The Times

And our biggest stories of the week are ...

Why payments innovations are rubbish!

Here's my latest retail payments focused presentation.  It's premise is that there's loads of innovation out there, but it's all just froth on the cake as the core of the infrastructure it's built upon - the clearing and settlement services that underpin these services - is still pretty rotten. 

Not an ash cloud, but a cash cloud

Overheard this week, a conversation between a bank’s CIO, CFO and CEO about Cloud Computing ...

Britain's favourite advert

This has nothing to do with banking, but all to do with marketing.  John Lewis, a mutual partnership retail store in Britain, recently launched a new advert.  Costing £6 million, it's a remarkable ad and captures and inspires citizens across Britain ...

What do criminals, bankers and Warren Buffett have in common?

Some years ago, I delivered a presentation as a keynote with the title: “All Bankers are Criminals”.  I actually didn’t mean “all”.  The chicken feed, battery farmed, commercial, transactional and retail bankers are pin-stripe suited, humble pie, nice guys.  I was talking about the evil animals of Wall Street and the City.  These jungle animals hunt you down, rip out your wallet and tear your money apart note-by-note.  OK, I exaggerate a little, but you get the idea.  What I never anticipated is that the man who would denounciate these animals - Warren Buffett - would one day join them.

The Return of the MiFIDs, 2010-2012+

We had a fun meeting of the Financial Services Club this week, looking at the implications of MiFID, the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, and the outlook for MiFID II, or MiFID2 if you prefer.  Now, to be clear, we don’t know what’s in MiFID2 right now, but there are some pretty good guesses including some form of Clearing Directive.  In order to find out what those guess would be, we gathered an expert panel comprising:

* Andrew Allwright, Business Manager, MiFID Solutions, Thomson Reuters
* Andrew Bowley, Head of Electronic Trading Product Management, Nomura
* Hirander Misra, CEO of Algo Technologies Ltd and former COO, Chi-X
* Philippe Guillot, Global Head of Trading and Execution, CA Cheuvreux
* Willy Van Stappen, COO, Equiduct

The MiFID MTF Monitor for April 2010

We are pleased to provide our fourth month of monitoring the MTF performances in European Equities trading, in partnership with Thomson Reuters Equity Market Share Reporter (EMSR). This month is particularly interesting with the demise of NASDAQ OMX Europe - rumours are that Equiduct are interested in buying their business - and a meeting at the FSClub tonight on MiFID Wave 2 (more on this later).

 

 

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The Finanser's Week: 26th April - 2nd May 2010

The biggest news stories of the week include ...

• Eurozone edges closer to endgame as Greek contagion hits Portugal - The Independent
• Barack Obama loses first vote on bank bill - The Telegraph
• Testimony of Goldman chief Lloyd Blankfein to the Senate on April 27: the text in full - The Telegraph
• Detailed in emails, how Goldman lost a fortune and then made it back - The Independent
• Barclays vs Lehman: Clash of the titans - The Telegraph
• Lloyds gallops back into the black - The Telegraph
• Santander sails on despite concerns over Spanish debt - The Independent
• Deutsche profits hit €2.8bn after record return at investment bank - The Independent
• Nasdaq OMX to close European MTF - Financial Times

And our biggest stories of the week are ...

UK banks: over £1 trillion of maturing debt

Earlier this week Adrian Coles, Director-General of the Building Societies Association, gave a fascinating presentation to the Financial Services Club Scotland on the state of the UK's Building Societies sector. The presentation didn't actually say too much about Building Societies but was more of a reflection of where we are with the mortgage and savings markets in the UK, and a sad story he told.

Do building societies have a future?

Great write-up by David Calder for the Caledonian Mercury of Monday night's meeting in Edinburgh ...

Want to know the latest on SEPA?

If you're wondering what's happening with SEPA (the Single Euro Payments Area) then this interview with Gilbert Lichter, Secretary General of the Euro Banking Association (EBA) and CEO of EBA Clearing, provides a good overview of the latest and greatest ...

And the best bank brand in the world is ... Chinese

Fascinating report in the FT this week about Global Brands, with the financial sector bouncing back the strongest of all.  Considering banks had the worst results ever last year and lost all brand momentum, it’s no surprise to see they’ve bounced back this year, even beating 'Beer' as a sector for brand improvements ...

The Great Election Debate

So we had the third and final leadership debate last night before the UK goes to the polls to vote for a hung Parliament (the most likely result). The debate is between David Cameron for the Conservatives, Gordon Brown for Labour and Nick Clegg for the Liberal-Democrats.  Now I’m not going to talk a lot about politics in this blog – it’s not my place – but there was a big spat about banks last night.

Joseph Stiglitz: Poster Boy

Just back from a short haul flight to Spain.  Reading the BA Business Mag, I stumbled across this ... yes, it's Joseph Stiglitz: Poster Boy!

Why identity management is so complicated

It fascinates me when we talk about ‘identity’ that we always seem to think of identity management as being a single thing ... but it’s not.  First, there’s the use of identity for identification; second for authentication; third, for verification; and fourth for fulfilment.  Then there are the many instances of providing and proving identification: at a bank, at an airport or border control, at a vehicle hire firm or other high cost rental, when opening a telephone account or similar service, when picking up tickets for a concert, etc.  This is why there are so many identity solutions out there.

What’s on a treasurer’s mind?

We had a great session at the FSClub the other day, discussing the views of the corporate client and their relationship with the bank with a panel consisting of a representative for corporate treasurers; a former head of treasury ops for a major technology vendor; and the head of epayments for a large, global bank. The corporate treasury representative kicked off the evening by discussing the key challenges for a treasurer ...

Spanish Banks leading in innovation - now the iPad Bank

It surprises me how often I find Spanish banks surprise me.  First, BBVA launch the first really cool Bank 2.0 apps two years ago.  Then Caja Navarra launches a fantastic hybrid Zopa-Bank styled P2P lending service.  More recently, Santander created a really interesting head office campus full of robots.  And now Banco Sabadell is one of the first, if not the first bank, to launch an iPad banking service.

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The Finanser's Week: 19th April - 25th April 2010

The biggest news stories of the week include ...

• IMF in 'radical' bank tax plans - BBC
• Brussels backs tougher US line on derivatives - Financial Times
• US to shine light on derivatives trading - The Telegraph
• Don’t fight us on bank reforms, Obama tells lions of Wall Street - The Times
• Wall St regulator charges Goldman Sachs with fraud - The Independent
• Goldman and SEC: The main arguments - Financial Times
• FSA begins investigation into Goldman fraud claims - The Times
• Senate sends for Fabrice Tourre, the banker at heart of Goldman ‘fraud’ - The Times
• Goldman's Blankfein to testify alongside trader - The Independent
• Dick Fuld: Lehman Brothers was ‘risk averse’ - The Times
• Visa buys Cybersource in e-commerce push - Financial Times

And our biggest stories of the week are ...

The top four bank technologies for 2010

I should be in Bahrain this week chairing a conference, but have missed it due to the volcanic ash across Europe. The theme of this year’s conference is all around “innovation amidst regulation”, with a number of technologies that we see as key to addressing the regulatory and innovatory requirements of the 2010s.  Specifically, there are four technology areas handpicked for focus: Mobile Services; Social Media; Cloud Computing; and Low Latency.  These four technology buckets are top of mind for 2010.  What are the implications?

The World of Me (Part Two)

Building on the World of Me post last week, I’ve just found out how powerful the tools are that are at our disposal today.  This is due to my efforts to be virtually at a conference in Bahrain which I cannot attend due to flights being grounded this week (Iceland has had a volcanic eruption).

Branches are dead, the future is social (Part Two)

My keynote in Bahrain this week was going to be a variation of the presentation.  Due to being unable to fly to Bahrain, I made a video file for the conference.  Here is that video.

PayPal, Microsoft and Google's visions of the future

Today seems to be a day about future trends.  For example, I stumbled across a great discussion and visualisation about the future of the payments and the internet in videos made by PayPal and Microsoft, along with this interview with Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

And here's some commercial payments news

I sometimes get unusual things in the email – no comments thanks – such as the full post-conference write up of a cards and commercial payments conference in the USA last month.  This included commentary on prepaid cards, einvoicing, commercial cards usage and more, so I picked out the best quotes and notes that caught my attention.

Your soul is mine

Gamestation, a UK videogames firm, discovered that more than 88% of the public don't read the terms and conditions of a website before they make a purchase online.  As a result, they inserted a clause in their terms and conditions stating that the customer grants the retailer the right to 'claim their immortal soul' to see how many signed up regardless.

Not the most diplomatic poster

Just spotted this poster on the London Underground and think it's probably not very diplomatic at the moment ...

The real banking crisis ...

Another item spotted whilst on the Underground this week, and this one did make me laugh (although it shouldn't have) ...

Goldman Sachs ... or Sack Goldmans?

There are so many articles and analysis into Goldman Sachs practices at the moment that I’m not going to write a lengthy analysis to add to all of these, but have picked a few of the best articles at the end of this blog entry.  What I would like to say is that the Goldman Sachs area of this blog shows that the SEC’s actions announced last Friday could be easily anticipated.

Why the G20 will disagree with the IMF reforms

I don’t know if any of you read the IMF report recommending two new bank taxes.  If you haven't, then I can recommend it, particularly for the detailed charts outlining which of the G20 nations had the most and least exposure to the crisis.  Find out more about which nations are winning and losing.

Cover payments - a real pain?

A press release landed in my inbox today with the title: "SWIFT's MT202 COV Led to More Work, Data Quality Concerns - Dow Jones Survey".  The release is all about a small survey by Dow Jones of payments and compliance managers who say: "yes, MT202 COV is a pain".

 

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The Finanser's Week: 12th April - 18th April 2010

Thought I would try something new this week which, to be honest, I'm not keen on doing as I don't like seeing myself on camera - who does? - but it's a new toy and so thought we'd give it a go.

A brief summary of the week's news from the Finanser in video form.

The Finanser's Week, 18th April 2010 from Chris Skinner on Vimeo.

Related news to this week's video:

• SEC charges Goldman Sachs with fraud - The Telegraph
• Goldman Sachs -  a dedicated section on the Finanser
  
• CDO's and their role in the credit crisis explained

Meanwhile, the rest of news stories of the week include ...

• Despite its grief, Poland is a beacon - The Times
• Iceland 'negligent' over banks - BBC and weather
• Eurozone ministers agree €30bn rescue for Greece - The Independent
• London bond trader creates JustGiving page to help Greece ... £398 down, £99,999,602 to go - The Telegraph
• UBS investors vent anger against old board - The Independent
• Brown admits failure to crack down on banks - The Times
• Northern Rock directors fined and banned by City watchdog - The Times
• Cash is being 'replaced by cards' - BBC
• President Barack Obama’s finance reforms ‘the most important in generations’ - The Times
• Tories name men to lead break up of FSA if they win power - The Independent
• Top US banks face $30bn of mortgage losses, warns CreditSights - The Telegraph
• Decade of plenty is over for consultants - The Times

And our biggest stories of the week are ...

Branches are dead, the future is social

My latest presentation on the future of (retail) banking and an audio file to go with it.

The World of Me

The World is changing fast as industries are turned on their head by people self-publishing, self-distributing, self-advertising, self-managing their news, music, reading, writing and general media content online.  What does this mean for banking?

Why mobile is changing the banking planet

Back in 2004, I asked a group of bankers when mobile would take off in banking. They all said: “not in our lifetimes”. Six years later, the battleground is already defined and being won.  Are you fighting in this space?  Have you lost already?  I wonder ...

Online payments is far more than PayPal

As those who follow this blog know, I write regularly about services such as Facebook and PayPal.  But these sites are not the be-all and end-all. You have to bear in mind that they are purely popular in their language of origin: English.  There are many other payment systems out there.  Of particular note are iDEAL, Yandex.Money and Alipay.

Come and join the Ryanbank

Going back to the idea that a bank could offer a widget-based business model of functionality and that everything these days is free, makes me realise exactly what tomorrow’s bank will look like.  Why not open the Ryanbank, based upon building a bank services around the Ryanair (South West Airlines for Americans) business model.

Mortgage Lending Mantra: "I Like Big Bucks"

Story breaking in the USA this week is all about Washington Mutual (WaMu), the Seattle-based mortgage bank closed down by the FDIC in September 2008 to be taken over by Bank of America.  What a difference a year or two makes.  In 2006, an employee jamboree took place in Hawaii, resulting in a range of amusements which WaMu has been trying to keep secret, but are now revealed in the Senate Committee's investigations.

The Fourteenth Banker

A friend in the USA sent me a link to the Huffington Post’s story about the Fourteenth Banker.  This is a new blog, started last month, by a senior XVP in a Top Ten US Bank that has been using TARP funds.  Why has he called the blog the Fourteenth Banker? 

Santander: confused, boring ... or innovative?

A brilliant story in Gizmodo about Grupo Santander's Head Office in Santander City, Spain. Gizmodo liked the fact they have robots guiding visitors around their massive HQ.  However, although Gizmodo may like it, TIME Magazine labels Santander “the most boring bank in the world”.

Voice Commerce fail in bid for RBS WorldPay (UPDATE)

Just had a fascinating chat with Nick Ogden, founder and CEO of Voice Commerce and previously RBS WorldPay which is now part of RBS Global Merchant Services (GMS). As mentioned last week, Voice Commerce is one of the organisations bidding for RBS GMS, now that it is up for sale again, and this week was told that their bid has been rejected.  Here’s the detail.

What's on a Treasurer's mind?

On 22nd April, we have a great debate about: "What's on a Treasurer's Mind?" with four significant practitioners in this space:

• Marcus Treacher, Head of e-Commerce, Global Transaction Banking, HSBC;
• Magnus Lind, Chair of the European Treasurers' Peer Group;
• Peter Matza, Head of Publishing, Association of Corporate Treasurers; and
• Sarah Jones, Business Leader at Bottomline Technologies and former Head of Treasury for Hewlett-Packard Europe.

If you want to come along, click here and then register as a member or non-member.
 

 

The Financial Services Club is sponsored by:

 

For details of sponsorship email us.

The Finanser's Week: 5th April - 11th April 2010

The biggest news stories of the week include ...

• US panel to delve deeper into causes of financial meltdown - The Independent
• Alan Greenspan defends Fed's role in crisis - The Times
• Fed boss Greenspan says no one saw the crisis coming. Really? - The Telegraph
• Citigroup executives admit regret but no blame for role in financial crisis - The Times
• Brown says that agreement on global bank tax is close - The Independent
• European bank levy could raise €50bn - The Telegraph
• Tesco aims for 10 per cent of financial service market - The Independent
• Virgin bank ambitions boosted by billionaire Wilbur Ross - The Telegraph

And our biggest stories of the week are ...

What are banks for?

I hope you all had a lovely Easter break. I know I did. Lots of chocolate, reading, walking and sleep.  During my reading I came across this, first published in the magazine Punch back in April 1957. It’s a classic and worth everyone taking note.

A new season of events, April through July 2010

We are delighted to announce our forward season of the London events for the Financial Services Club’s meetings for the second quarter of 2010, including a review of MiFID II, the progress of the PSD and SEPA, a focus upon Treasury and a dinner with Sir Win Bischoff, Chairman of Lloyds Banking Group.

Headline news: Jamie Dimon speaks!

Jamie Dimon’s letter to JPMorgan Chase’s shareholders was released over the weekend.  It’s a great 36-page read and, although I don’t normally do this, I thought it worth reprinting some of the key aspects here as it provides a fascinating insight into a global bank’s operations.  This takes the form of four posts:

• The first provides an insight into JPM's operations. Click here.
• The second is a few comments related to banker's bonuses and TARP. Click here .
• The third is a key section of the letter that outlines Jamie Dimon's views on regulatory reform. Click here.
• The fourth is a few summary notes from key industry observers’ views about his comments. Click here.

And then the Vampire Squid squeaks

After the long analysis of Jamie Dimon’s 36-page shareholder letter, we now have an 8-page shareholder letter from Goldman Sachs.  This is their longest shareholder letter ever, and appears to be a direct response to the accusation of being a Vampire Squid lobbed at them last year by Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi.

Will regulators destroy the banking system?

On April 1st, the European Commission announced their key work plans for 2010.  The plans are wide-ranging and imply a fundamental restructuring of the European banking markets.  If you don’t think it’s going that far, then think again.

How Facebook Payments could work in the future

Imagine Facebook create a partnership with a global bank – let’s say HSBC – to offer a P2P payments service. Not Facebook credits, but proper P2P payments. How might it work?  Today, I found out.  I got Hyves, the Dutch version of Facebook. Hyves has announced the introduction of social payments in partnership with Rabobank.

Metro Bank: the first new bank for a while

So, we are finally seeing a new retail bank launched in Britain for the first time in, oh, living memory?  Yes, it’s Metro Bank time ...

A new PSD-approved Payments Institution starts business

Nick Ogden, CEO and founder of Voice Commerce recently spoke at the FSClub about using voice biometrics as part of authentication in mobile financial transactions.  During the evening, Nick mentioned they were one of the first Payments Institutions (PI) to register with the FSA after the PSD was transposed, and were about to announce that they are also one of the first PIs to be accepted as a Principal Member of Visa Europe.

New UK Financial Services Act

Just noticed that the governors are dropping half of the new Financial Services Bill, in order to rush it through Parliament before the general election is called on May 6th. The Financial Services Act, formerly known as the Financial Services Bill, is about to be passed into Law and includes ...

Banking ... better than cigarettes, but worse than Toyota

I just downloaded Harris Interactive’s 11th annual reputation survey of America’s most visible companies. The good news is that Financial Services has moved off the bottom of the industry list so that the tobacco industry is, once again, the least reputable industry sector in the USofA.  The bad news is that the car industry's reputation improved far more than the banks.

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The Finanser's Week: 29th March - 4th April 2010

The biggest news stories of the week include ...

• Bono’s out of tune with world of investment - The Times
• Barclays raids pensions to offset bonuses tax - The Telegraph
• Accounting firms facing rise in negligence claims amid credit crunch fallout - The Times
• US Treasury to offload $32bn Citigroup stake - The Independent
• IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn pushes for joined-up financial reform - The Telegraph
• RBS fined £29m for sharing price information with Barclays - The Times
• Ireland 'bad bank' in €81bn loan clean-up - The Telegraph
• Ireland asks how bank shock was missed - Financial Times
• FSA charges seven 'insider dealers' in £2.5m conspiracy - The Independent
• Alistair Darling writes to G20 about bank tax - The Telegraph
• Gulf sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed al-Nahyan found dead in Morocco - The Telegraph
• Credit crisis cost the nation £7trn, says Bank of England - The Independent

And our biggest stories of the week are ...

G20 regulations collapse in disharmony

The Wall Street Journal reports this week that "U.S. and European governments are moving toward a consensus on taxing large banks".  However, in an exclusive report, the Finanser has learnt that the G20 Finance Ministers' negotiations for a global agreement on banking regulations disintegrated dramatically last night.

If identities are unique, why do I have so many?

It’s a question I’ve asked before, but is becoming even more pertinent as I see new identity management programmes being rolled out that are fragmented, uncoordinated and, in some ways, nonsensical. The point was brought home to me as I listened to a presentation from Finance Norway (FNO), a trade organisation for 180 banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions in Norway.

What does it mean if the Internet is your bank?

In this guest blog entry Brett King, blogger at Banking4Tomorrow and author of the new book Bank 2.0, looks at what it means to live in an age where the internet is THE bank ...

In a quick straw poll recently conducted via Linked In we had a set of responses that confirms pretty much all the other data we are seeing in relation to channel adoption and utilization. The key issue is that despite the obvious data and conclusions, Internet is still seen as either the poor cousin of Branch banking, a necessary ‘burden’ or normally as a transaction channel for cost reduction – rather than what it is today…a customer channel.

What if the internet is your bank ... and you can't access it?

After Brett's post the other day which posed the question: "what if the internet is your bank?", I was quite amused just now, as I loaded Citibank's homepage and nothing loaded. Nothing at all.

The bank in your hand

I just heard that Bank Leumi in Israel have launched a range of mobile services for finance, with the tagline: "the bank in your hand".  More like placing the whole bank branch in your hand and, to be clear, avoid children getting hold of these apps as demonstrated in their new ad ...

Who remembers our flexible friend?

Just chatting with a chap over the phone to make an order for some bathroom stuff, when he asks for my Visa or Access card details. Of course he meant MasterCard not Access, and soon corrects himself apologising for his age.  “Oh no, I remember our flexible friend well”, I say ...

Why greed is infectious

You know the saying "Greed is Good" and "Infectious Greed".  Science has now proven why it's infectious ...

Monthly MiFID MTF Monitor: March 2010

We are pleased to provide our third month of monitoring the MTF performances in European Equities trading, in partnership with Thomson Reuters Equity Market Share Reporter (EMSR).

 

The Financial Services Club is sponsored by:

 
For details of sponsorship email us.

And our biggest stories of the week are ...

G20 regulations collapse in disharmony

The Wall Street Journal reports this week that "U.S. and European governments are moving toward a consensus on taxing large banks".  However, in an exclusive report, the Finanser has learnt that the G20 Finance Ministers' negotiations for a global agreement on banking regulations disintegrated dramatically last night.

If identities are unique, why do I have so many?

It’s a question I’ve asked before, but is becoming even more pertinent as I see new identity management programmes being rolled out that are fragmented, uncoordinated and, in some ways, nonsensical. The point was brought home to me as I listened to a presentation from Finance Norway (FNO), a trade organisation for 180 banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions in Norway.

What does it mean if the Internet is your bank?

In this guest blog entry Brett King, blogger at Banking4Tomorrow and author of the new book Bank 2.0, looks at what it means to live in an age where the internet is THE bank ...

In a quick straw poll recently conducted via Linked In we had a set of responses that confirms pretty much all the other data we are seeing in relation to channel adoption and utilization. The key issue is that despite the obvious data and conclusions, Internet is still seen as either the poor cousin of Branch banking, a necessary ‘burden’ or normally as a transaction channel for cost reduction – rather than what it is today…a customer channel.

What if the internet is your bank ... and you can't access it?

After Brett's post the other day which posed the question: "what if the internet is your bank?", I was quite amused just now, as I loaded Citibank's homepage and nothing loaded. Nothing at all.

The bank in your hand

I just heard that Bank Leumi in Israel have launched a range of mobile services for finance, with the tagline: "the bank in your hand".  More like placing the whole bank branch in your hand and, to be clear, avoid children getting hold of these apps as demonstrated in their new ad ...

Who remembers our flexible friend?

Just chatting with a chap over the phone to make an order for some bathroom stuff, when he asks for my Visa or Access card details. Of course he meant MasterCard not Access, and soon corrects himself apologising for his age.  “Oh no, I remember our flexible friend well”, I say ...

Why greed is infectious

You know the saying "Greed is Good" and "Infectious Greed".  Science has now proven why it's infectious ...

Monthly MiFID MTF Monitor: March 2010

We are pleased to provide our third month of monitoring the MTF performances in European Equities trading, in partnership with Thomson Reuters Equity Market Share Reporter (EMSR).

 

The Financial Services Club is sponsored by:

 
For details of sponsorship email us.

The Finanser's Week: 22nd March - 28th March 2010

The biggest news stories of the week include ...

• Value of LSE trades falls by a third - The Times
• Senate committee approves Finance Bill - The Times
• Six are questioned over insider dealing after dawn raids by FSA - The Times
• The great global trade war and why it didn’t happen - The Times
• Financial crisis tale to make the blood boil - Financial Times

America's debt mountain ... all Congress's fault?

I just got around to catching a few paragraphs from David Broder's fascinating column in the Washington Post a few days ago, about Congress in the USA talking about America's debt mountain and whose fault it is.  Compare theirs with Britain's and there's little issue.

Why ICBC didn't buy Citibank

Good friend of the FSClub Emmanuel Daniel joined us this week to talk, about the future of banking and the rising influence of Asian banks, especially those from China and India.  The thing that surprised me most is that we haven’t seen an Asian bank become truly global yet, by buying an American or European major bank.

Virgin, Tesco ... where's the new bank?

So, we are finally seeing some new retail banks launched in Britain for the first time in, oh, living memory?  Now, we have a sudden flush of new banks coming into the markets and, focusing upon Virgin and Tesco’s strategies as these are the major players trying to threaten traditional UK retail banks dominance, it’s interesting to see how the new competitive battleground will play out.

More on Tesco, Virgin and Metro Banks 

Data Monitor kindly sent me some slides about Tesco, Virgin and Metro Bank after my blog this week.  See their take on the world here.

More on CESR's Dark Pool Regs

I recently wrote a little piece about CESR, the EU Securities Regulator, and their update to Dark Pools regulations.  It got quite a reaction, including feedback from some of the dark pools regulators themselves, who 'corrected' the view that the Best Bid-Offer had been updated by making it clear that nothing had actually changed recently.

A majority vote social media as important - critical for banking

Earlier this year we surveyed the Financial Services Club members and readers of the Finanser for their views on social networking and social media in banking.  In February, we published the initial results as a qualitative report and now we have crunched the numbers to produce the quantitative report.  There were 444 respondents to the survey ...

Summary of the payments landscape

I just received the 10-page summary of this year's IPS show.  Great document produced by the indomitable Heather McKenzie - good job.  Here's a little snippet to wet the appetite of those who missed it ...

Credit crunch bank robberies

I guess these desperate times cause desperate actions, as the last few weeks must have created the funniest spate of bank robberies ever seen.  First, there was the Russian Sumo wrestler who wrestled an ATM out of the wall ...

What is it with the French?

Don’t get me wrong, I love France and most things French, particularly the South of France and the Cote d’Azur, Tourettes-sur-Loop, Bordeaux and Provence. Beautiful. But get me to Paris and my love affair with France always seems to fly out of the window.  Take my latest trip, by way of example.
 

 

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The Finanser's Week: 15th March - 21st March 2010

The biggest news stories of the week include ...

• JPMorgan, Citigroup helped trigger Lehman collapse, report argues - The Telegraph
• London at centre of Lehman Brothers 'accounting gimmick' - The Telegraph
• Security fear over end of cheques - BBC
• Bernanke opposes plan to strip Federal Reserve of small bank supervision role - The Telegraph
• Bank charges: 'Banks should offer accounts that can't go overdrawn' - The Telegraph
• Turner eyes bank reform by November G20 meeting - The Independent
• Brown intervenes in European hedge fund dispute - The Times
• US bank regulation bill unveiled - BBC

And our biggest stories of the week are ...

Why PayPal et al don’t matter

Many of us get excited about new and different toys in the payments world.  We then use these illustrations of small change to make allegations about big change. We speculate that everyone will be using twitter for payments via PayPal’s core system within the next few years, for example.  But PayPal isn't that special.  It’s just cream on the cake.

Why PayPal et al REALLY matter!

So yesterday I argued that PayPal and their brethren of social monies don’t matter. It was like unleashing the sceptical banker that I know resides deep within me, and it felt good.  Then I got a dose of new reality vision (maybe due to so many comments on yesterday’s piece) and it felt not so good, because PayPal and their brethren really do matter. In fact, they matter a lot more than we think.

Sharks, Gorillas, Sloths and Cheetahs

In January, I wrote a blog post about competitive strategies, and the Sharks versus the Jets of the Banking industry.  This blog entry developed into a short white paper that has just been published by Hewlett-Packard. Get a free copy here.

The beauty of hindsight ...

Six months ago, I posted some cracking quotes about the crisis. I recently saw the Power of Yes by David Hare (well worth a viewing), and the programme has many more choice quotes to add to the list. Here are some of my favourites ...

The new marketing segments of 2010

Thinking about millenials, or Gen Y as some call them, reminded me of marketers wonderful ways of coming up with new terms for consumer segments. Here's a few new ones: Wotofs, Minjers, Yolops and Yotops.

Congratulations to Dexia for some new bank thinking

Thanks to the Italian blog Banca2.0, I stumbled across Dexia Belgium’s marketing campaign to Gen Y that worked wonders almost a year ago. The campaign is based around Dexia’s youth bank, Axion, and the bank’s aim was to appeal to 15 to 30 year old Belgian’s by highlighting music as the theme. But not just any old music: web music.

USAA: the Best American Service

USAA are an American provider of finance that started as an insurer for military personnel, and now provides banking and full financial servicing for America's forces.  They are also the #1 firm in America for Customer Service.  To demonstrate this, Bloomberg has selected America's best customer service providers since 2007 and 'no other company has come close to achieving USAA's feat: a No. 1 or No. 2 spot for four years running'. 

The Lehmans bits missing online

Lots and lots of coverage of the Lehmans shambles this week.  You can read the whole 2,300+ page report if you want, but what is missing online are the wonderfully clever pictures some of the papers included in their print reporting.

Visualising the Vampire Squid

The classic article of last year "Inside the Great American Bubble Machine" by Matt Tiabbi in Rolling Stone, where he coined the term 'vampire squid' in his description of the bank Goldman Sachs, has been visualised in this 10-minute YouTube stream ...

The new Lloyds Bank ... or is that Lloyd Banks?

I thought that Lloyds Banking Group had suddenly had a change of heart when I got a note offering me a Beamer, Benz or Bentley.  Obviously, the lending lines had opened and car loans is their new focus.  Then I realised that this is the title of Lloyd Banks debut single ...

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The Finanser's Week: 8th March - 14th March 2010

The biggest news stories of the week include ...

• Banking giant Sir Brian Pitman dies at 78 - The Times
• Lehman 'hid billions' – report - The Independent
• Swiss theft puts HSBC in spotlight over tax evasion - The Times
• Barclays' shareholders warn bank against deal for a US retail bank - The Telegraph
• Brussels to mull 'European IMF' - BBC
• Icelanders snub Britain in vote over £3.5bn loan repayments - The Times
• US senators try to impose a one-off 50pc bonus tax - The Telegraph
• US public 'will pay Obama's $90bn bank levy' - The Telegraph
• What’s next for global banks - McKinsey
• Top 15 core banking system vendor iRanking table - inntron

And our biggest stories of the week are ...

Taking the pulse of the payments markets

I’m here at the largest  UK payments jamboree of the year, IPS2010.The conference opened with a lengthy interactive voting session with the 400-strong audience. Here are the results.  Question 1: What will have the biggest impact on transaction banking in 2010?

Taking the pulse of the payments markets (Part Two)

More voting at IPS2010, with some interesting views expressed. The session opened with three short questions which were quite telling. Question 1: Does the banking industry need to change as a result of the financial crisis?

Towards Currency Union

I've been studying developments in the Middle East, and particularly the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The GCC is a bit like the EU, and one of its aims is to create a common currency by 2010. Having visited the region regularly for about ten years, this currency has always been on the agenda. Now, after a decade, it’s still on the agenda, and that’s about it.  Why?

A few choice regulatory quotes

There was a great panel session at the IPS payments show this week on the future of regulation.  Here are a few choice quotes: “This is the G20-isation of regulations”, Philippe Mongars of the Banque de France. “By the end of 2010, there will be ...

Is it me or has CESR just killed off dark pools?

Meeting with a mate last night, who happens to be on the inside track of EU regulatory matters as they relate to Capital Markets, he turned to me and said: "have you seen CESR's latest?"  Of course I hadn't.  "What are they saying?" I asked.  "Only that dark pools are dead!" he chortled.

Chinese Bank buys majority stake in Citi

OK, I made that up.  Mind you, I made it up in 2006 when I presented at the BAI Retail Delivery Show and now something similar may be coming true.

We think Basel's liquidity standards are rubbish

We have an FSClub Meeting on 16th March 2010 in London with the theme: This house believes that the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision's new liquidity risk monitoring standards are built on sand ...

Bankers bonuses in graphics

Money.co.uk just sent me this lovely graphic that puts the banker bonuses in context quite well ...

Is he having a laugh?

Rory Bremner compered the Private Asset Managers' Awards over the weekend and cracked a number of good bank jokes.  Asked Bremner: “Anyone here Dutch? Great salesmen, the Dutch. Anyone that can sell ABN Amro...”

 

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The Finanser's Week: 1st March - 7th March 2010

The biggest news stories of the week include ...

• How Obama Screwed Volcker - The Daily Beast
• Record profits at Standard Chartered but bad debts rise The Independent
• HSBC's £7bn profits to offer insight into Asian economy The Telegraph
• Turner: Cost of bank bailout was small compared to instability The Independent
• 'Robin hood' bank tax wins backing of Japanese foreign minister The Telegraph
• Barnier refuses to back down in EC battle with hedge funds The Independent
• US banks veto 'socialist pay' in secret talks The Independent
• City headhunter warns of banker exodus over bonus row The Telegraph

And our biggest stories of the week are ...

When should a bank change?

When should banks move to dump branches, rearchitect for electronic connections and move away from old style paper processes?  When do we see the tipping point and how do you deal with it?

How to deal with too much data

Did I mention that I’m in love with the Economist’s 16-page supplement on a deluge of data. There are diamond and gold nuggets of information throughout the report.  Here are a few highlights ...

How to spot the next bust

One of my banking colleagues provided me with a major revelation yesterday.  He said: “if you want to spot the next country to be in distress, look for a skyscraper.”

Adventures in identity: are you paranoid or schizophrenic?

For a while now, the industry has struggled with secure identities. Now SWIFT has created a new approach, the Personal Digital Identity (PDI) token. Is this a good thing or creating even more confusion?

A rich round of bank analysis 

This month had a real crop of great items in Fortune, Bloomberg and the Economist: from Alan Greenspan's fightback to the future of reading; from a deluge of data and how to cope with it to living through the meltdown of AIG; from why Canada is best for banking to the Absolute Banking Nightmare that RBS discovered at ABN. Here's a summary of these key stories. 

Monthly MiFID MTF Monitor: February 2010

In our second month of monitoring the MTF performances in European Equities trading in partnership with Thomson Reuters Equity Market Share Reporter(EMSR) - for last month's figures and charts, click here - we find that Chi-X continues its success, whilst LSE win this month's battle with Xetra for second place.

SEC to crack down on HFT?

As folks who read this blog regularly know, I often return to the theme of latency and high frequency trading (HFT).  So a friend tipped me to look at the SEC's latest consultation document released in January on trading in American equities markets.  Interesting section at the bottom of page 62 ...

If the Banks are United, they will never ... 

Watching the Carling Cup Final yesterday, I noticed a chap who obviously didn't realise that sitting next to England Manager Fabio Copello would immediately get him noticed ...

Great customer experiences are like this ...

Nice ad from ANZ Oz.
 

 

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